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Lots going on at the moment and this week, I done a bit of everything!

 

most of it being work too rolling stock. all the DRS mk2 interiors have now been painted. The one below just needs varnishing and passengers until it’s fully complete.

 

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The BSO interior had a bit more doing to it. Thanks to the ‘Anglia Gen’ group on Facebook, I was provided information about the arrangements and detail of the DRS BSOs from a few people, so I set to work to improve the Hornby version. I had already painted the seating areas annoyingly so a few places needed rectifying but not a lot. 

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First, I cut out a bay of seating which in turn, removed part of the floor. This area is the wheelchair area on the real coaches. A piece of plasticard was cut to form the new part of the floor and filla was added to make it nice and smooth - proved useful practise as I’m inexperienced with filla work. I added a new wall with a thin piece of plasticard and then the whole area was primed - was notified the walls on the real ones were grey so it made sense to prime everything. Walls to make up the guard’s office was also made up using plasticard and I made a luggage cage. I’m not too pleased with the cage and may change it for a 3D printed offering or something better. It was very awkward to make.  But I will wait to see what it’s like when fully lit up in the dark. 
 

 

Another item of rolling stock was one of my pretendolino coaches where I modified the roofs to correct them. If only Hornby done a correct Mk3a tooling...! The square HST style vents were removed by very gently shaving them off. I used very thin and small strips of plasticard to make new roof ribs. A couple of ribs needed shaving off too to allow the new Roevac ventilators to fit correctly on the sides. A very nerve racking job but I’m quite pleased with how they came out. I need to do the same to the other 8 now! 
 

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Currently waiting for some transfers for these and need to see if I can get the correct AGA style coach letter badges made. I’ve sent away the interior to who 3D prints some bits for me to see if I can get a more accurate one made. Hopefully then,  it can be a fully prototypical coach both inside and out! All the interiors are the FO First Class 2+1 seating arrangement but the TSOs need a 2+2 arrangement. I’ll be needing a fair amount of these over time!

 

That’s what’s taken up most of my time but in the spare hours I had I worked on a couple of other bits. 
 

 

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I made a dummy tension pulley mast from an old Peco mast and used some brass rod, metal fasteners and 0.45mm wire to make up the main mechanism. The balance weights are 3D printed. I still need to add the tensioning bar that goes behind the mast to stop it from being pulled over due to tension but that’ll be done in due course. Very pleased with the turnout as a couple of years ago, I tried making one and failed miserably! 
 

 


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and finally, I made a start on the scratchbuilt bridge, making the framework/bones of the build. Used mount board to make up the main frame then cladded with plasticard. Ready to add the brick plasticard now.
 

The bar going through the middle is what will be used to carry the ohle wires through the bridge - I had to experiment and think about what would work as it needs to be strong enough to deal with the wire tension and I need to get it right in one go, ideally! It’s a scrap piece of rail which will slide through into place when the time comes - still need to add the registration arms yet. 
 

ive come to the conclusion that I’ll need to build the ohle leading up to the bridge first so I can then get the bridge in its final position and make sure the wires will go under the bridge without any trouble. I think the whole ohle system will need to be installed snd fully working before the bridge gets anymore work done to it.

 

I’m starting to get withdrawal symptoms from YouTube, having not made a video for over a month now so once the DRS mk2 set is finished, I’ll start prioritising the layout and make some videos again. I’ve got my ideas on what I want to do so hopefully it won’t be too long!

 

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This week, most of my time has been spent working on the DRS short set coaches. They’re pretty much all finished now and just need weathering. 


I finished off the last interior painting and then added passengers. The next task was add lighting to all coaches. To do this, I robbed some train tech coach lighting strips from the pretendolino coaches as the train tech strips aren’t quite long enough for the mk3s. Plus, lll need to add lighting to the rest of the pretendolino coaches (six came with lighting) so it makes sense for them all to be the same set up. The train tech system isn’t cheap either - £20 a strip!
 

I do like them though. They couldn’t be more user friendly and easier to install. No flickering like a lot of other systems or methods  and it’s only a matter of replacing the battery every so often (we’re talking once every couple of years but it all depends on usage) so very little upkeep. No soldering required or messing around with wheel pick ups. They turn on via a sensor when movement is detected, and will stay on until the coach comes to a standstill and doesn’t move for a few minutes. Only downside is the cost which will be expensive if doing it to a whole rake of coaches! 
 

After adding new batteries in the strips, they were secured to the inside of the coach with double sided tape and here’s the results. 
 

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and in pitch black. Here you can see the added effect of painting the interiors!

 

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with this complete, the last thing to do was renumber one of the TSOs. Hornby, for whatever reason, decided to produce the BSO with two running numbers and the TSO with just one - why...? :unknw_mini: I had a bit of a nightmare with this but all’s well that ends well. The coach became 6117 in the end. 
 

 

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With the coaches all done and dusted, only thing left to do now is weathering. Gangway connections and pipework may get added in the future once I have a layout with more realistic/sweeping bends.

 

  The short set had a run this afternoon  for a partial celebration!

 

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A small job I undertook inbetween tasks on the short set was replacing the battery boxes on 90047 and 90048. These had the RFD model used as donors, and had the wrong battery boxes on. 
 

a photo showing 90048 pre battery box replacement - the best I could find sadly! Note how small it is compared to the rest of the ‘boxes’ on the underframe. 
 

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And here’s both with the new battery boxes. 
 

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much better! A very simple job that didn’t take long at all. These were kindly provided by @Squirrel Rail who cast them for me. Old ones pull out and new ones can either slot in place or glue underneath. Simply painting them black then weathering to blend them with the rest of the underframe (I did this prior to fitting them to the model) so very much worth doing and makes them more prototypical and accurate. 
 

90048 is now a fully prototypical model for the year it’s set, whereas 047 technically needs a roof aerial replacement. However, I plan to rework It to ‘backdate’ it slightly so the ‘button’ aerial will stay on.

 

 

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5 minutes ago, WrattingRoad said:

A small job I undertook inbetween tasks on the short set was replacing the battery boxes on 90047 and 90048. These had the RFD model used as donors, and had the wrong battery boxes on. 
 

a photo showing 90048 pre battery box replacement - the best I could find sadly! Note how small it is compared to the rest of the ‘boxes’ on the underframe. 
 

5D38288C-72E8-4081-90A1-2312A03F039D.jpeg.94b63a9fa29b50283613177e4993be22.jpeg
 

 

 

And here’s both with the new battery boxes. 
 

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much better! A very simple job that didn’t take long at all. These were kindly provided by @Squirrel Rail who cast them for me. Old ones pull out and new ones can either slot in place or glue underneath. Simply painting them black then weathering to blend them with the rest of the underframe (I did this prior to fitting them to the model) so very much worth doing and makes them more prototypical and accurate. 
 

90048 is now a fully prototypical model for the year it’s set, whereas 047 technically needs a roof aerial replacement. However, I plan to rework It to ‘backdate’ it slightly so the ‘button’ aerial will stay on.

 

 

Hi Jack, I cast some of the later can Ariels which I used on 002, if you would like one let me know and I can pop it in the post or I’ll give it to you next time we ever meet up!!A1B6DF9E-3BA8-428A-8758-F71B0AFF993B.jpeg.2438d3fd56cc379514361317334ba10b.jpeg

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10 minutes ago, Squirrel Rail said:

Hi Jack, I cast some of the later can Ariels which I used on 002, if you would like one let me know and I can pop it in the post or I’ll give it to you next time we ever meet up!!A1B6DF9E-3BA8-428A-8758-F71B0AFF993B.jpeg.2438d3fd56cc379514361317334ba10b.jpeg


Hi Jerry, you’ve done me a couple of those too! I’ll save them for future locos :D

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nothing majorly exciting happened over the course of last week. 
 

had to replace a few sections of track as one had become damaged (god knows how) and the other needed realigning. Took up some items of detailing too to make room for the future scenic break road bridge and I also replaced the old 3-aspect signals for 4 aspects as these were more realistic and work better for my layout. Like the old signals, the new ones are made by Berko.  
 

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sadly, only one signal worked and the faulty one I took apart to investigate to see if I could fix. I couldn’t fit anything wrong - but of course, I then couldn’t send it back so I accepted defeat and took the loss on the chin. Will send them back straight away next time! Also had to order a new IRDASC-4 module from Heathcote Electronics to power the new 4 aspect signal. The old signals and old IRDASC have been sold though so at least I get some money back... 

 

once the new signal arrives , fingers cross it works, then reballasting can commence and then I can get the track weathered to complete the mainline. It’ll be ready for OHLE headspans then. 

Started filming another video for YouTube covering the mainline completion and I’m hoping to get it out by the end of this week! 

 

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Some more exciting stuff now though. 
 

My 153 was fitted with sound, interior lights and door warning lights by Roads and Rails. Was very pleased with it all but the interior lighting is a bit too bright for my liking still. Just waiting for the CV setting to be sent so I can adjust it myself. 
 

I just had to get the 156 out to pose alongside it! 

 

 

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I picked up some new Dry Rub Down (DRD) transfers from a friend at the weekend and spent a couple of hours applying them to some items of stock to give them Abellio Greater Anglia branding. One of them being the Class 153 which I’m really happy with! 
 

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Also applied them to the Pretendolino DVT and a Coach. 


 

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I was very impressed with the DRD transfers. Very easy to work with, no varnishing beforehand and no having to worry about backing film making them much better than water slide for this type of thing. The hardest part was getting them in the right place! 

 

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Something else that arrived are some new 3D printed coach interiors to go into my pretendolino TSOs. 
 

 

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These were 3D printed by Jason Hannant, who’s done quite a lot for me now. I wanted the correct seating arrangement in the TSOs as the Hornby models feature wrong, first class 2+1 seating. The TSOs need 2+2 seating. These new interiors were designed and made to fit the Hornby Mk3s used for the pretendolino. They come in 3 seperate parts - he can only print items up to 100mm long but none the less, he’s done a great job on them. I love the luggage racks within them personally!

 

 

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With the arrivals of the AGA decals and the new coach interiors, it’s made me very motivated to get the Pretendolino set done this week. Or at least, the vast majority of the work complete. So that’ll be the aim for this week and will do this in between tasks on the layout like waiting for the new signal and for ballast to dry. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Progress on the layout currently has slowed right down so has been put on the backburner for now. 
 

the replacement Berko signal arrived but I’m still waiting for the replacement IRDASC to control it. I tested the new signal using the old IRDASC (which is programmed to power a 3 aspect signal only) and it seem to all work as it should so I went ahead fitting it in and ballasting the new pieces of track. Weathering will wait until the new IRDASC so then I can have full confidence in the new signal. 

 

In the mean time, this gives the opportunity to focus on rolling stock projects and the pretendolino/pretendabellio has taken priority. I sorted another coaches roof and spent most of my free time painting up some interiors. Managed to paint up the first interior for the TSOs and I’m pleased with the turn out. 
 

 

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As per, I followed pictures of the real things - they were quite hard to follow due to the alternating seat colours but I got there in the end. A very colourful interior indeed!
 

as I mentioned before, these were designed to fit straight onto a Hornby Mk3 chassis making them ideal and perfect replacements for the wrong standard Hornby interior. 

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another four of these to do so hopefully I have brain cells left over by the time I finish them...

 

I thought I’d get a First Class interior painted up too so I can get one of the FOs sorted out. I used the standard  Hornby interiors for these as the 2+1 seating arrangement is correct - I just wish they made the effort with the tables! I did toy with changing them but this would have meant cutting the old ones out and then fitting plasticard to reinstate the floor and it would have been a bigger job for what it’s worth. The tables don’t look too bad anyway once painted. 
 

 

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Once again, followed photos from the real things and another happy result. Not as colourful as the standard interior but certainly more sophisticated and cozy.  Got another two to do like this. 
 

I’ll continue with these interiors as well as the roof modifications and swap between the two as I go to try and keep me motivated. Hopefully, the new signal IRDASC turns up soon too!

 

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Hi - can i ask a question about your track spacing. Im making some adjustments and id like to go a bit wider than the 6ft scale I'm getting from the red PECO thingamajig...What is mm rail to rail on yours? does it vary? did you use any jig to maintain distance? Cheers

 

PS - DRS 37 not my era but boy does it look good hauling matching coach stock

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18 hours ago, Norski said:

Hi - can i ask a question about your track spacing. Im making some adjustments and id like to go a bit wider than the 6ft scale I'm getting from the red PECO thingamajig...What is mm rail to rail on yours? does it vary? did you use any jig to maintain distance? Cheers


not quite sure what you’re asking here... 

 

all my track is OO code 100 and OO is 16.5mm rail to rail. It doesn’t change throughout the layout. It sounds to me like you’re wanting to ‘increase’ the gauge which would mean stepping up to EM or P4... no jig was used because there’s no need for one, all the rails are held in place by the sleepers. 
 

If I’ve got all this totally wrong then please correct me or elaborate more with what you’re trying to say please :blush:

 

 

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3 hours ago, WrattingRoad said:


not quite sure what you’re asking here... 

 

all my track is OO code 100 and OO is 16.5mm rail to rail. It doesn’t change throughout the layout. It sounds to me like you’re wanting to ‘increase’ the gauge which would mean stepping up to EM or P4... no jig was used because there’s no need for one, all the rails are held in place by the sleepers. 
 

If I’ve got all this totally wrong then please correct me or elaborate more with what you’re trying to say please :blush:

 

 

 

Apologies mate - badly worded question from me. 

 

I was referring to the distance between tracks and not rails. I noticed yours lines seemed slightly further apart - which i really liked the look of. Ive used the little peco gauge to space my tracks and It may be to scale but it doesn't look right (to me) and I've still got a chance to change mine before i commit to ballasting. Your track spacing (amongst other things on your layout) looked better to my eyes.

Cheers

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2 hours ago, Norski said:

 

Apologies mate - badly worded question from me. 

 

I was referring to the distance between tracks and not rails. I noticed yours lines seemed slightly further apart - which i really liked the look of. Ive used the little peco gauge to space my tracks and It may be to scale but it doesn't look right (to me) and I've still got a chance to change mine before i commit to ballasting. Your track spacing (amongst other things on your layout) looked better to my eyes.

Cheers


i realised what you meant soon after. Most railway terminology flies over my head still sadly :scratchhead:

 

Im not sure what the distance between the two tracks is. I’ve never measured it. The trouble is, when I layed the track, I didn’t know anything about the real railways, the set ‘too scale differences of things’ or even about different types of track - to me, track was track which is why it’s all wooden sleepered and not concrete. I just laid the track and done whatever looked fine too me and if it ran fine then great!

 

If I was to guess, it’s probably around a scale 8ft which would make it around 36mm apart but I’ll get a measurement in different places and get back to you on that one.

 

In my honest opinion, if I was you, if it is too scale, and the trains run fine without crashing, just leave it but it’s your layout at the end of the day. Remember, track in OO scale is a nightmare because nothing about is correct and you need to allow plenty of room to allow trains to run in either direction without crashing or hitting eachother, especielly with tight bends or setrack. The tightest bends on the real U.K. network are still nowhere near as tight as a ‘realistic’ bend on a OO gauge layout. You need a huge amount of room to get a true ‘too scale, realistic bend’ in OO and even N Gauge. 

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1 hour ago, WrattingRoad said:


i realised what you meant soon after. Most railway terminology flies over my head still sadly :scratchhead:

 

Im not sure what the distance between the two tracks is. I’ve never measured it. The trouble is, when I layed the track, I didn’t know anything about the real railways, the set ‘too scale differences of things’ or even about different types of track - to me, track was track which is why it’s all wooden sleepered and not concrete. I just laid the track and done whatever looked fine too me and if it ran fine then great!

 

If I was to guess, it’s probably around a scale 8ft which would make it around 36mm apart but I’ll get a measurement in different places and get back to you on that one.

 

In my honest opinion, if I was you, if it is too scale, and the trains run fine without crashing, just leave it but it’s your layout at the end of the day. Remember, track in OO scale is a nightmare because nothing about is correct and you need to allow plenty of room to allow trains to run in either direction without crashing or hitting eachother, especielly with tight bends or setrack. The tightest bends on the real U.K. network are still nowhere near as tight as a ‘realistic’ bend on a OO gauge layout. You need a huge amount of room to get a true ‘too scale, realistic bend’ in OO and even N Gauge. 

 

Thanks - id be interested to know what the measurement is. I know people can get a bit twitchy over these things but as you say none of it looks right if you want to be super critical. Its the willing suspension of disbelief. Looks great to me and if i get even close to your modelling i will be one happy chappy.

 

 

 

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21 hours ago, Norski said:

 

Thanks - id be interested to know what the measurement is. I know people can get a bit twitchy over these things but as you say none of it looks right if you want to be super critical. Its the willing suspension of disbelief. Looks great to me and if i get even close to your modelling i will be one happy chappy.

 

 

 


Hi again. 
 

measured the distance between the rails on my mainline. They seem to differ in places but that’s down to my poor track laying. It was roughly 40mm give or take a few mm in places where it looked the ‘best.’  Totally way out :mocking_mini: 

 

i actually position a piece of track roughly 24mm (6ft in OO scale) away on the track on my diorama and was totally shocked at how close the two tracks were. No way in hell would that ever work. I guess like I said before, you need LOTS of room to model a full scale curve in any scale - probably a bloomin great warehouse. 
 

Judging from my own observations, 40mm should be a nice looking appearance for your ‘6ft’ which in this case is a scale 10 ft! The joys of compromising I suppose. Ultimately, you want them as close together as possible, but far enough apart so you don’t get any crashes on bends. 
 

 

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That’s one Pretendabellio mk3 through ‘phase 1’ of Project NC64. 
 

Phase 1 includes new roof ventilators, Abellio greater Anglia branding, new custom painted interiors and passengers fitted. 
 

B028239A-A4B5-4FC0-8EA1-B0638BDE45C8.jpeg.bfb425a872cdbd7ba6b3ec857a6fa311.jpeg
 

428AB313-6B3E-4398-97FB-B14CACBBB5D8.jpeg.c33a79dfa9fcd4016d466db90455126c.jpeg

 

C48E7AE3-6F85-4DD7-B8E2-9A3B263A6C67.jpeg.ca9c61d85d1901ac35543066b605618e.jpeg

 

43506ADE-51A3-4B72-ADC9-E9AA6DF3E5C6.jpeg.b2979c58e8344439a5144acf1bab98cf.jpeg

 

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All the coaches will go through Phase 1 before phase 2 begins. This will include 

Renumbering relevant coaches, interior lighting, Laserglaze, detailing and weathering. 
 

chuffed so far! 

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23 hours ago, WrattingRoad said:


Hi again. 
 

measured the distance between the rails on my mainline. They seem to differ in places but that’s down to my poor track laying. It was roughly 40mm give or take a few mm in places where it looked the ‘best.’  Totally way out :mocking_mini: 

 

i actually position a piece of track roughly 24mm (6ft in OO scale) away on the track on my diorama and was totally shocked at how close the two tracks were. No way in hell would that ever work. I guess like I said before, you need LOTS of room to model a full scale curve in any scale - probably a bloomin great warehouse. 
 

Judging from my own observations, 40mm should be a nice looking appearance for your ‘6ft’ which in this case is a scale 10 ft! The joys of compromising I suppose. Ultimately, you want them as close together as possible, but far enough apart so you don’t get any crashes on bends. 
 

 

 

Cheers - Really appreciate you taking the time to measure that up for me. Current track arrangement is laid using the PECO red 6ft gauge tool scale except for the curves. I feel it looks to close to my eyes even if it is to scale. Im reaching the point now where i dont feel i need to be dogmatic about these things so when i saw your spacing coupled with how good it all looks it reaffirms my train of thought. Ive just set up some spare track and id agree on the 40mm. Thanks again.

Ps - loving the coach interiors.

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

The last month has been a bit all over the place for me, work was busy, modelling was very hit and miss, the mojo kept coming and going for reasons I won’t say so I didn’t get much done at all. Hence why the very long gap in posting. 
 

In the times I was up for doing some modelling, I was working on the mainline getting it finished and ready for OHLE installation. Some pieces of track needed replacing or realigning due to some running issues. Once those were sorted and re-ballasting was done, the track was weathered at long last, thus meaning all mainline track was weathered.
 

the track was weathered using a different method than usual - first, I spent a few hours painting the rails and chairs, and then the ballast was weathered with watered down black and burnt umber paint. Sleeper grime snd roof dirt were then airbrushed over to tie it all together. This part of the mainline I wanted to be not as heavy than the rest of the mainline, and the watered down paint method is certainly a good one for that effect. 
 


40345982-1D23-439F-85C2-7A6E857C710B.jpeg.dcb4d6bbe5984b4ad956a6cbb240a310.jpeg

 

D864127C-A292-453F-8745-7A523622F072.jpeg.069b7115381206ddec6533c850ac5484.jpeg

 

 

Some new Berko 4 aspect signals were fitted as well, replacing the old 3 aspect singles I had down previously. 

 

537BC825-E532-4ADF-B1DA-E3083FCB2DC4.jpeg.d6a4b224add9314e1c463d46dbab310e.jpeg

 

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As mentioned above, the mainline is now ready to have ohle structures installed on it, so I’ll be working to make those pretty soon. Then I can also make some nice advancements on the bridge!

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Over the last month, I gained some really nice new additions. 
 

The biggest one being the rake of 21 PGA wagons from Cavalex. I was star struck with these wagons, they’re easily my favourite ever purchase I’ve made so far. They look stunning and run perfectly. These wagons will run with my EWS/DB sheds in the future so I can model the DB operated sand and other aggregates trains from Ipswich Griffin Wharf, Barham, Marks Tey and Kennett Redland.

 

An EWS/DB shed is yet to enter the collection so a GBRf one will have to substitute for now. 
 

 

767847CE-579E-4CBE-9E0E-9F89E4CF3EB5.jpeg.79e3c5539a33b553b7135f06a54b6ffb.jpeg

 

273F7141-A270-4C19-949B-3C4EBE3EBC51.jpeg.43fbf503b3b24471f1e59346c31cc49c.jpeg
 

 

Another addition, and the most recent one, is a few Bachmann RMC JGA hoppers. These will be getting ran or mixed with the PGAs to make more prototypical trains. The JGAs came with factory weathering but this will get removed. They also need to have their RMC logos painted over to blank them off and one of the wagons will be receiving an EOT lamp and pipework to be a dedicated rear wagon of the train. Both the JGAs and the PGAs will then get sent to my good friend Tim from The Scrap Line on YouTube  who’s a magician when it comes to rust weathering! So I’m very excited to see how they turn out. 
 

DE52DA9E-03C5-4505-9652-615DB49D0284.jpeg.8e195d86c7fa07eee838d5b2817c41bf.jpeg

 

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The final addition was 66731, the GBRF shed in the pictures above. I needed another one to run alongside Sense and this one came from a friend at a good price!

 

Being it’s less celebrity appearance carrying ‘interhubGB’ in standard Europorte livery rather than Captain Tom Moore in Thank You NHS livery, it suits the layouts time period better. The model came with weathering which I like the look of, so it was a matter of chipping it and it’s sorted for the layout :)
 

2CA20C89-0DC6-4C0B-BA75-D8D12615D8C0.jpeg.89abe09ae99205ca2c3fff888c1fd609.jpeg

 

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This week, I’ve been working on the new JGAs making them more prototypical for the era I’m modelling. this is what they looked like when I bought them 

 

AB75F0D1-4539-440D-AEC0-B1164F22FCFA.jpeg.b8d8e62a43f7552e5f65164309ba1f79.jpeg

 

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And here is what they look like now 

 

 

840FB3F9-6C7D-472A-8D0A-59128283C11F.jpeg.6b2a08a9ca76659a4961aba0f6d74f00.jpeg

 

 

First, the weathering was removed and I done this to different degrees on all three wagons. One wagon had the vast majority of it removed so it was near enough clean. One wagon, I just cleaned up around the data panels. And one wagon had its weathering removed to resemble a wagon I saw in a photograph. Doing all this made a big difference - in particular, cleaning up around the data panels (which they always are) massive improved the factory weathering! the cool thing with these wagons is that no two are identical meaning you can get creative with the weathering. 
 

 1) the ‘clean’ example

 

899A75F5-973D-430D-B372-98F23A4C0EF8.jpeg.39e1657483a711561426b0c1cb762f2d.jpeg

 

2) factory weathering with cleaned data panels 

 

E451F2D2-31C4-4E92-8B0B-B16BB9147D05.jpeg.8ae5e02e8b108d01b419b3fcb256f5e8.jpeg

 

3) wagon cleaned up as per a photo which is below it. Focusing on the grime and how it tones down the orange. 

 

3A2E5E12-B040-496C-A963-784451318CF4.jpeg.16d7dc759fb35e1dc66dfdb32f3ffc55.jpeg
 

85F3D085-F012-4C20-AEFE-3C9B736D37CC.jpeg.c31b0e50866a4778dbc2a7e75a80b548.jpeg


 

Once weathering was removed and I was happy, the RMC logos were blanked off. One wagon became the dedicated ‘last wagon’ of a train so couplings and nem socket was removed and pipework was added. An EOT lamp to follow once further weathering has been added. 

 

93131731-6649-451E-BED5-2B1BA05DA9E4.jpeg.d887aceedc3644e44ce0306381cd5680.jpeg
 

68DB9588-BCC0-4074-9664-3C228808B189.jpeg.083fc210cadb866ef0756f0983ae00ec.jpeg

 

 

Finally, the graffiti was added and i used Scale Model Scenery transfers for them. I’d love to try some hand painted graffiti or some smaller ‘tags’ which can always be added later. It’ll look more convincing. I also took the time to detail them a little by painting the axle boxes and door actuators red as per the photos and I removed the platform steps. 
 

here’s the results of all of all three wagons and how they look now. 
 

F9DF5676-C41F-4CEA-A178-9C5BFA5553F9.jpeg.50cb84410b6fbe6d74d19f8f8fe24a82.jpeg

 

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Im really happy with how these wagons are looking, it was an enjoyable mini project. It goes to show what can be achieved with a little effort and how simple it is to improve factory weathering - even for someone with little experience. The wagons aren’t finished yet though, they’ll be going to my good friend Tim at The Scrap Line with the PGAs for further weathering and finishing touches. They’ll look even better then! 
 

I do want to get some more of these wagons as they were fun to work on and very nice wagons. Only annoying thing is how different they look depending on time periods meaning the slightest differences dictate whether it’s right or wrong on a layout - the wagons will technically be wrong for my current layout but I’ve ‘future proofed’ them for the next layout which will be more backdated to the mid 2000s - the wagons in their current state once finished will be more prototypical for that era!

 

 

Edited by WrattingRoad
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Got another OHLE structure constructed and in place on the layout last night. This time, I made a Mk3a Portal design and it was built as per measurements taken from a drawing by Clive Mortimore. 
 

B52A9382-D889-489A-A9BE-18771CE7FDF3.jpeg.32c711d3ad95c17ea92de85e70f39860.jpeg

 

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Portals are more heavy duty than Headspans making them more robust and able to cope with wire tensioning. I thought I’d make one for this reason and also for a bit of variety. They were more simple and quicker to build than the headspans as well which was nice. 
 

90028 came out to test wire heights. 
 

BCEF0151-E4B2-4041-8B26-7CA0E66DA444.jpeg.14f5c7bcf9234f9ccf34bcc46e1f0a5f.jpeg

 

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hoping to build a few more headspans over the next couple of weeks so then the bridge can stop being neglected. 

 

Edited by WrattingRoad
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  • 1 month later...

Been very quiet and havn’t posted an update in weeks. I did post one on my Facebook page a couple of days ago so some people will know the reason why, but for those who don’t...

 

I havn’t done any modelling since the middle of April when I made the OHLE portal. After making it, I lost interest in the hobby and fancied taking a step back and enjoying my other hobbies. This lasted for around a week and then a downfall of mental health occurred which furthered the lack of interest and prevented it from returning which has resulted in this very long break. My work schedule has been flat out as well which isn’t helping things.  
 

Over the last couple of weeks, it has started to improve but it is still very ‘up and down’ as they say. The motivation has started to return which is a good sign but It does depend on how I’m feeling. My main problem at the moment is finding the time as work hasn’t quite calmed down yet and on top of this, I’ve signed up down the gym so I’ll have less time in the week to do modelling. 
 

despite all this, I did fancy spending some money that i easily saved over this break which i suppose is a positive to all this - everything has a silver lining. I treated myself to some new additions for the layout. 
 

One of them is a Bachmann 37409 ‘Lord Hinton’ in DRS livery. That’s another one ticked off the list. Will run alongside my 424 and 425 once it’s been fitted with sound. 
 

 

8164EB6D-F69F-4433-A5E8-142566D91805.jpeg.9140f67aa45bcd5861ca663d4647b478.jpeg

 

 

 

The other additions were these few Bachmann TTA wagons. Two BP and one Aviation fuel. 
 

I’ve wanted some of these wagons for some time and they are very rare According to a few people. So I’m quite happy my friend was willing to let me have these :rolleyes: they're a common site in Ipswich Freightliner depot so these will fit right in. I’m debating getting a couple more and these will sit in the depot and get shunted around as you’d expect them too. I’d like to get some Cavalex TEAs when they eventually get here to sit alongside these as well. 
 

not much work required to these wagons, a simple debrand, a wagon renumber and maybe a touch of weathering/reweathering. The wagons are fairly clean in pictures I have saved of them stored in Ipswich depot. 
 

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now these wagons are here, my 08 will finally spend more time on the layout rather than in its box. It’s been neglected for years! A better decoder will get fitted to take a stay alive and lights when the time comes! But I thought I’d get it out to pose. 
 

AC8C1AEE-EC12-468B-A679-D1FD4007D736.jpeg.48ae9a1e82f626c0881dea4fe2ab3956.jpeg

 

 

that concludes the update and why I’ve been quiet. Hopefully it’s not too long til I can post another. But only time will tell! I do have my plans for when my mojo is in full swing and these are to construct the ohle structures going either side of the road bridge. Then progress can be made on the actual bridge itself. 

Edited by WrattingRoad
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Hi Jack-Life is a never ending juggling of time & resources and you will never find the perfect balance as events overtake us at all ages.Work,health & mental wellbeing are important things to prioritise in your youth.The gym will be beneficial & improve your coping mechanisms.You are a very focused & capable individual.You have exceptional modelling ability and a creative nous.Those abilities will not disappear by taking a step back from modelling.Do what you can when you can & do it for yourself rather than feeling you have to.People clearly enjoy the content you produce but do not ever feel obliged to produce it for the sake of it to please others & never feel you have to apologise for not doing so.Please accept my remarks in the spirit with which they are intended.

 

 

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