Lancaster Lane & Dewar’s Street

[LDM34046]

16 hours ago, Alister_G said:

Now that's just lovely. Another candidate for the "how realistic" thread, I reckon.

 

Al.

Humbled. Thank you! Just posted it on that thread.

[LDM34046]

Back again with the 1:1 scale yesterday. My first model railway exhibition since lockdown as well as my first in probably over 7 years. Held at my local Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway they also had a great fleet of locos in steam as well on the line so I though't I'd share a few of my favourite photos.

 

No.6 'Eigiau' arrives at the main station Warren Wood in the afternoon sun.

 

 

No.6 'Eigiau' steams past Chalk Hole Fall as it arrives into Stony Shaw on a mixed goods.

 

 

No.4 'Armistice' pauses at Warren Wood as it gets ready to shunt the empty stock into the shed at the end of the day.

 

 

No.2 'Katie' sits dormant in the engine shed as No.6 'Eigiau' passes the turntable.

 

 

Feels great to finally be back out at a railway exhibition. Some excellent layouts on display inside and a great chance to speak with some modellers. A real kick of enthusiasm for modelling (more so than normal) and some great new inspiration for Lancaster Lane. 

 

Ahhhh, the smell of weak tea, steam and coal dust in the face. It's good to be back on the railways.

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046

[LDM34046]

The latest edition of Model Rail came through the post yesterday so that was this morning’s read over a coffee. 
 

A rather interesting read and seemingly simple install on 3-link scale couplings.

 

A sign maybe?

 

Currently weighing up the pro’s and con’s…

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046

[Alister_G]

You're probably well aware of this, but to me the issue with three-links depends on how you operate your layout.

 

If you have fixed rakes of wagons, and run them as long trains, then three-link couplings between each look far better, to the eye and for photography.

 

However, if you regularly break apart rakes to shunt individual wagons, or a subset of the rake, then three-links become an exercise in frustration, coupling and uncoupling without derailing the wagons gets annoying very quickly.

 

Because I have only short rakes of wagons on Ladmanlow: three or four in a train, I have two different sets, one for playing, and one for photography, so I can shunt with the convenience of tension-locks, or take pictures and video with three-links.

 

Al.

[MrWolf]

I think that it's a matter of personal preference, I like a bit of shunting goods stock, for me, passenger trains just fill the quiet spots between the goods and the mixed. I never could get on with tension lock couplings even as a child, largely because everyone seemed to have a slightly different version. 

I actually liked the miniature tension lock as fitted by Airfix, although again, it didn't like other people's versions. Who knows, if Airfix railways hadn't gone to the wall, those on adjustable NEM pockets might have been the way to go? 

I accept the hand of God with a bit of bent welding wire in the same way I do 00 track and steam trains powered by little electric motors I guess.

[Sandhole]

1 minute ago, MrWolf said:

I think that it's a matter of personal preference, I like a bit of shunting goods stock, for me, passenger trains just fill the quiet spots between the goods and the mixed. I never could get on with tension lock couplings even as a child, largely because everyone seemed to have a slightly different version. 

I actually liked the miniature tension lock as fitted by Airfix, although again, it didn't like other people's versions. Who knows, if Airfix railways hadn't gone to the wall, those on adjustable NEM pockets might have been the way to go? 

I accept the hand of God with a bit of bent welding wire in the same way I do 00 track and steam trains powered by little electric motors I guess.

My great Friend Mike, Coachbogie, on here, has a superb three-link train on his layout. It is a fixed rake and is hauled by a lovely K's 28xx.
One operating session, I didn't change the points correctly in his hidden sidings and stuffed a Wills, Star into the back of it.
He was NOT happy. The time we spent pulling the wagons out to re-assemble the train meant I have NEVER done that again! Try uncoupling three-links in hidden sidings!
In shame,
Chris.

[LDM34046]

Couplings always seem to cause a debate and it's always interesting to see both sides. Reminds me of the DCC/DC debate.

 

All my stock is run individually so I don't really run rakes as such. Obviously the biggest benefit to 3-link is how realistic they look and for someone like me who loves photographing my stock, this is the most tempting reason. I did weigh up the operational side of things. Lancaster Lane is quite small so shunting duties is usually quite a slow relaxed affair on the layout. The exhibition I visited last weekend, only one layout used the original tension locks. The other 00 layouts used 3-link and a few used Kadee. The visitors at the show didn't seem to mind the occasional 'Hand of God' and most of the operators seemed to have developed quite a skill of uncoupling and coupling with ease.

 

I wouldn't have to worry about the complications of hidden sidings, large radius or complex paintwork to potentially derail the stock when pushing or pulling.

I think my biggest 'fear' is the task of fitting them. The thought of drilling into the buffer beams on all my stock and locos is quite daunting.

 

I've got a few new bits of stock and a loco on the way so I'll sit on the idea for a few more weeks. It just pains me when I edit photos and they've got a huge unsightly coupling bolted to the front. A dainty 3-link seems much more appealing.

[LDM34046]

Other than the Peckett I’ve never been 100% satisfied with the running quality of the 1F and Pannier. Granted, a better chip could probably solve a few issues, similar to the Peckett but trying to program the speed steps on the NCE Powercab has been nothing short of a headache.

 

Went up the to the loft and unearthed my SPROG DCC controller. A temporary connection the rails and quick fire tutorial on DecoderPro software I was able to fine tune the speed table of both locos.

 

 

 

Both locos reprogrammed onto short addresses for ease of use and much much smoother running!

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046

[LDM34046]

Another lesson today. This time teaching myself Focus Stacking on photoshop. Good lighting on the layout combined with multiple images with different focus points creates an all round much more crisper and sharper image.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046

[Alister_G]

4 hours ago, LDM34046 said:

Went up the to the loft and unearthed my SPROG DCC controller. A temporary connection the rails and quick fire tutorial on DecoderPro software I was able to fine tune the speed table of both locos.

 

I too bought a Sprog, in conjunction with JMRI they are very much the best way to initially program a loco's responses. I have also bought a USB interface for the NCE Procab, but i've so far never got round to trying it out. Potentially though, I should be able to use Decoder Pro directly with the Procab.

 

Al.

[LDM34046]

3 minutes ago, Alister_G said:

 

I too bought a Sprog, in conjunction with JMRI they are very much the best way to initially program a loco's responses. I have also bought a USB interface for the NCE Procab, but i've so far never got round to trying it out. Potentially though, I should be able to use Decoder Pro directly with the Procab.

 

Al.

I’ve not thought about the USB interface for ProCab. A temporary connection for the SPROG seems to work a treat for the time being. Savings getting headaches trying to program multiple CV’s on that tiny LCD screen.

[LDM34046]

Quiet afternoons.

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046

[LDM34046]

I feel some day's the definition of modelling is endlessly waiting for the postman to deliver new bits! Anyhow, I've been working on a few more 'focus stacked' images to pass the time.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046

[LDM34046]

A favourite of mine.

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046

[LDM34046]

Peckett on the local coal train this morning. Working on a few removable real coal loads to fit in the wagons.

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046

[MrWolf]

If you know a good way of doing that, please share!

[LDM34046]

34 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

If you know a good way of doing that, please share!

I’ll post my results, it’s a bit of trial and error to be honest. Just waiting for the coal at the moment.

[Dragonboy]

17 hours ago, MrWolf said:

If you know a good way of doing that, please share!

I normally use Ten Commandments loads and drill a hole and put a steel pin in centrally which I disguise with a bit of plastic putty. Once painted you don’t know it’s there. I then use a magnetic pick up tool to lift the load out of the wagon such as when standing in a coal yard so there are then empties waiting to be removed.

 

If using a preformed plastic load I evostick 2 pins on the underside and usual add coal scatter on top but you need to do this sparingly as otherwise you lose some of the attraction 

 

You may need to sand the load before painting to unsure smooth exit and I tend to put name of wagon on underside as loads are not one size fits all. 

[LDM34046]

Off to the Bexhill Exhibition tomorrow. Feels good to finally be getting back into the routine of shows again. 

 

Need to turn my attention to getting Lancaster Lane set up for exhibition use. Would be good to hopefully get the layout at a few shows toward the end of the year! 

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046

[LDM34046]

Messing around with the camera on my new phone. More settings than I can shake a shunters stick at! Really feeling a few of these black and white shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046

[LDM34046]

Good to finally be back at a show. Great to meet a few new faces and browse over the bargain tables!

 

 

A favourite of mine from the show. This lovely layout depicting the National Coal Board. Excellent modelling!

 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046

[Fishplate]

On 04/08/2021 at 13:06, LDM34046 said:

A rather interesting read and seemingly simple install on 3-link scale couplings.

 

May I suggest, from my own personal experience, that you check the buffer height of the rolling stock you plan to convert. I found some disparity between makes and between proprietary and kit built stock. I also found the 'slop' between the track gauge and wheel gauge in OO combined with small buffer heads caused buffer locking on medium radius Peco points. 

 

I only converted a few wagons before deciding that the fitting of three link couplings actually created a series of other problems that I would need to tackle. I decided that the variety of stock I own, or have inherited, combined with the curves and gradients on my layout meant three links would  not be for me insofar as regular running was concerned. 

 

Your situation will, of course, be different. 

[LDM34046]

Always exciting find a new local model shop…

[LDM34046]

A visit to the local model shop this morning providing Lancaster Lane with some new additions and some more projects for the weathering workbench.

 

A Dapol 16T coal wagon. Seen here shunted by the Peckett.

 

 

 

 

There seems to be some confusion with local crews as to why a Great Western wagon is so far south. A change of decals and a trip to the workbench for a suitable distressing will do the job. I also need to work out how to remove the awful plastic coal load. Either that or add real coal over the top of it.

 

 

A lovely rake of BR Grey 7-plank wagons, each individually numbered. I'm always a happy customer when it comes to Oxford Rail and their products. Excellent detail and crisp transfers. I'm looking forward to getting these weathered. The white wheel are a nice detail however I'm not sure on the origins or the region of them. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046

[LDM34046]

The night shift at Lancaster Lane.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2022 by LDM34046