Les1952 Posted November 8, 2012 Author Share Posted November 8, 2012 The 66000 is a "sercondhand" addition to the Bregtalbahn fleet, hence the Dapol couplers for freight duties, which it shares with the MaK diesel and the 0-8-0 with the flashing lamp. The only two items giving coupler problems on a regular basis were the stake wagon which caught its dropper on the checkrail of the point by the shed when being propelled and the bogie tanker which likes the uncoupler by the platform too much. Not a lot to sort out rolling stock wise before next September (the next exhibition for it), thank goodness. The 66000 did a spell at braunstone with no problems other than an occasional stutter on the new point where the track wasn't quite clean enough by the dead frog for a loco that still needs a bit of running in. In the meantime it is all systems go for Hawthorn dene Colliery for a couple of months. All the very best Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Three new bookings. I've now had formal invitations for the following showss- Sheffield on 13th and 14th April 2013 Grantham on 31st August and 1st september 2013 Sileby on 15th and 16th February 2014. All the very best Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Hi Les, I've just had a very enjoyable 'skim' through this thread, I'm sorry I've not seen it before. Very nice I must say and I'm going to read through properly shortly. Good luck with your shows! Pröst! John E. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 Hi Les, I've just had a very enjoyable 'skim' through this thread, I'm sorry I've not seen it before. Very nice I must say and I'm going to read through properly shortly. Good luck with your shows! Pröst! John E. Very many thanks- not a vast lot to update except that the article I sent to the N-Gauge Society Worldwide Area Group has appeared in the latest edition of "The Globe". All the very best Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 2, 2013 Author Share Posted February 2, 2013 There IS an update... I've just remembered I've bought another pair of diesels, both secondhand from the German version of the deaded eSite.- Firstly an orange V100 type (West German this time) To go with it I've revisited a loco of my past, and managed to find an Arnold MaK 0-8-0 in werklok orange also. I had one of these a good number of years ago- it went to ContiKits with the rest of the set it came in, four tankers I seem to remember. These don't have faulty couplers, they're both Simplex fitted. This will allow cheapskate me to take the Dapol couplers off Furtwangen's stock for re-use on Hawthorn Dene (where I need 4 locos and about 30 hopper wagons fitted with them). The brewery can thus be shunted by the Simplex trio of these two and the yellow Arnold Henschel. Othe diesels can work any freight not shunting the brewery, and take a turn on the vintage passenger. The two new arrivals salute each other by the coal drops on Hawthorn Dene Colliery. Furtwangen Ost will be erected in about a month as I've got some work to do on the tram track at the top of the hill before Sheffield show in April. All the very best Les 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted March 22, 2013 Author Share Posted March 22, 2013 Friday update Hawthorn Dene Washery is now on its end and Furtwangen Ost has been brought out of its corner and is standing on its trestles again to be prepped for Sheffield Show in three weeks time. Jobs to do- 1. The proscenium is to be lowered by about 4 to 6 inches. If it ends up too low the trsetles will be lengthened after Sheffield show to raise the layout a couple of inches.. 2. Running of the tramway to be improved at the top end where it passes under the houses. 3. Goods stock to go back to Rapidos as I now have three locos with Simplex uncoupling mechanisms. The Dapol buckeyes released will go onto hopper wagons etc for Hawthorn Dene Colliery. So far I've tested the railway and it is ass running well even before I've cleaned the track! All the very best Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted April 4, 2013 Author Share Posted April 4, 2013 Proscenium lowered I took the proscenium over to Trevor's yesterday and 5 inches has now come off the height of the proscenium. A wobble has needed correction but here it is in the workshop with proscenium attached and Hawthorn Dene Washery standing on its end behind it. I've had a go at the trackwork at the top end and most trams have no problems with it. However the Hiroshima combino is currently withdrawn for a rebuild as it doesn't like quite a few places on the layout, and I've identified a couple more surplus Tokyo types that will be sold off before too long- with a service that needs four trams to run it I only really need eight. Sheffield will run with the Erfurt combino, the little blue Waggon Union tram and two of the Tokyo cars, with two more as very reliable spares. I'm still waiting news of the Kato Hobbytrain Stadtbahn car- one of these will be added when it finally appears- to replace another Tokyo car. Show night tonight- second performance of Sweeney Todd - I'm knackered after just the first one (and technical, dress rehearsal etc). Still, there's only three more performances including tonight and then I can hang up my tonsils for a while and get back to modelling..... Les 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted April 16, 2013 Author Share Posted April 16, 2013 (edited) Pics from Sheffield show. Not a lot in the way of captions to go with these- the show went well, though the Glaskastern, the big Combino and the Waldbahn railcar all developed faults- the two from the railway now fixed and the tram waiting doing. Shame there weren't more punters as the show definitely deserved to be better supported. Lots to get on with. Les Edited April 16, 2013 by Les1952 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Just read the whole thread, a very nice set up, loving the tramway & trams, hope to see it at a show sometime. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted April 16, 2013 Author Share Posted April 16, 2013 Just read the whole thread, a very nice set up, loving the tramway & trams, hope to see it at a show sometime. Many thanks for the compliment- no shows booked other than those in my strapline, but got two more enquiries from Sheffield so may yet venture a bit further North next year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Class 74 Posted April 17, 2013 Share Posted April 17, 2013 Love that tracks of the tramway in the grass, very good! And a nice little town. I'd like to get some money of the Deutsche Bank, go to Kaufhof and have a yammy ice cream at Fabio's! ;-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted May 12, 2013 Author Share Posted May 12, 2013 News- Furtwangen Ost is to appear at Model Rail Live at the GeorgeStephenson Pavilion, Newark Showground, on September 21-22. Website is here http://www.modelraillive.co.uk/ but pics etc aren't yet up... Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 Another visit to Trevor's and a rewire. The two aren't quite connected. After Sheffield show I noticed some damage to the ends from the Proscenium not quite fitting properly. As a result the layout and proscenium went back to Trevor's last month for some strengthening and the fitting of the proscenium to be adjusted, I took the opportunity to get a small shelf included as part of the strengthening- this gives a little more space to park railbuses etc, as these seem to be breeding. The pics show how it fits behind the backscene. Currently the trackplan has been removed so it can be re-done before being stuck back again. To try and get more sections into the railway a partial rewire has taken place. The two dead-end roads (the shed and the brewery) are no longer separately switched, and are isolated purely by the points. This has released two switches on the control panel. I've used these to make two of the fiddle yard roads two sections each- leaving the longest one as a single section for the vintage train. This now allows five trains offstage (and 4-wheel railbuses can still be plonked on at either end as extras). One new addition is an Arnold Kittle railcar. I've also finally got round to servicing the VT98 set and have weathered it. This will share one of the split sidings round the back with the low floor railcar. The MAN and the Kittle will live on the shelf and can run with all fiddleyard roads switched off. All the very best Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted July 27, 2013 Author Share Posted July 27, 2013 (edited) Two more railcars Two railcars in two days, with a third in the pipeline. Photos suffering from an excess of light in the workshop today. This is the second attempt at one of these battery railcars- the first one is in bits in its box. If this one starts to exhibit the same problems as the first (total lack of adhesion as the wheels wore smooth) I'll transfer the mechanism form the other into the unpowered end of this- or get a dealer to do it for me... Looking and feeling more like a workhorse a prewar diesel railcar, quite a brute. Vintage Minitrix model. Both of these will take their turn on the vintage service, sharing a fiddle yard siding. The VT98 set will share a siding with the low floor set, and the third siding will have either a goods train or the vintage steam train- if the latter the goods can be assembled ad hoc. The set in the pipeline is an East German 4-wheel railbus set, which can change about with the VT98 set. Still adding small improvements, and sorting out stock for Hawthorn Dene and Top Valley/Rise park. All the very best Les Edited July 27, 2013 by Les1952 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted August 27, 2013 Author Share Posted August 27, 2013 Preparing for shows Not a huge number of things to report- getting the layout clean and running for two shows in the next month. Grantham looms. However following an enquiry for next Summer I've had to try to get an accurate trackplan. I hit upon the idea of taking an overhead view instead, largely because my curve drawing isn't up to it these days. Herewith a track plan.... Still plenty to do. Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted September 13, 2013 Author Share Posted September 13, 2013 (edited) After Grantham... A good weekend at Grantham Railshow. Lots of people looking at the layout. Two more enquiries, and a possible futher booking for next year- this could give four outings next year if they all bear fruit. Also one enquiry for Hawthorn Dene, so here's hoping..... Only casualty is one of the lamps on the signal on the platform- it displays two greens but one amber has gone out. I've taken a look under the layout and there's a wire come adrift- that will have to be sorted. Trams are running better than they have been- I might at last have got most of the tiny dirt/glue spots removed from places where I can neither see nor get to it. View along the layout from behind the tower. John Catling operating the layout. Next stop Newark Showground for Model Rail Live.... All the very best Les Edited September 13, 2013 by Les1952 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted December 12, 2013 Author Share Posted December 12, 2013 Another invite... Mansfield on 1st and 2nd March 2014.... All the very best Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) 2014 first update The layout is now back to horizontal, having stood on its end in a corner of the workshop since Model Rail Live. That was a good show from my point of view, only being just over a mile from home meant that we were home, unpacked and drinking tea by twenty-five minutes after the show closed- new in-the-car record of 12 mins! Won't manage that again..... Downside was that the lighting strip has failed- the coax on the end of the strip took a knock at Grantham and it proved fatal half-way through day 2 of Model rail Live. Fortunately there is a spare strip so next week that needs fitting and checking before Sileby in three weeks time. Also- the head of the signal by the tunnel has been damaged- not fatally but will need a bit of delicacy to repair it. As well as that, I'm using some of the bits from the Faller allotment kits I bought for Hawthorn Dene to put in the end of a garden in the corner by the tunnel entrance- there is a triangular area there that is basically just grass. A summerhouse, patio set, railings and figures will make that more interesting. Largely a case of using bits that are either too Germanic or too posh for County Durham allotments in the sixties....... A couple of cats and dogs may find their way into the town, and some grass clumps will improve the strip along the front of the railway. Meanwhile, a cruelly enlarged close-up of the improvements in the shed area made before the last outing. Yes, that is another P.D.Marsh bike- the Faller ones I got are on the bike rack on Hawthorn Dene as they look less substantial. The Fat Controller is visiting, and that Graham Farish fireman is still shovelling- he'd have had an easier life if he'd stayed on the loco he fell off...... Plenty of little odds and ends to do. All the very best les Edited January 22, 2014 by Les1952 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Areas for improvement started... The fence of the corner garden has gone in, and the garden building is under construction. There is a table to go in with benches, a few bushy plants and some people when I find where I put them. Loco slogging into sight is my new Fairburn before I gave up and sent it back to Hattons to ask fror one that runs without wobbling. What to do with a spare seagull? Colour its wings with black dry-brushed paint and now we have a kestrel setting off from the chimney top where it has been keeping an eye on things. Anyone who tells me a kestrel doesn't take off like that from a chimney pot will be told a stray seagull has become a little dirty with all that perching..... Plenty to do. All the very best Les 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 1, 2014 Author Share Posted February 1, 2014 (edited) Two weeks to Sileby. Where has the time gone? As usual superglue on the ends of my fingers once again. Sound-fitted A3 to play with on Hawthorn Dene causing a distraction- I will get it sounding how I want it to.... Hattons reckon they've found me a non-wobbly Fairburn, so here's hoping. On FO, apart from using the railway as a test track, two repairs and one improvement. The proscenium now has a new light strip. Those who saw the layout at Newark without the lights active didn't get the warm glow of a working light rig as it failed on the first afternoon of the show. Also mended the signal by the tunnel mouth where the front of the head had become detatched. Newly finished is the garden area- looks a lot better than the bare grass previously in this corner. The Ludeke family are at play, though the swing seems to have collapsed, causing great hilarity..... Most items by Faller, though there is a Langley scotty dog, and some herby plants (pestwurz) by Noch and bushes from the Fylde. Railings weathered rather than painted, gives a more uneven finish. Next job is to test the rolling stock. All the very best Les Edited February 1, 2014 by Les1952 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium ColinK Posted February 1, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 1, 2014 Just found this, very enjoyable. I do like the way you have included things that went wrong. It helps us all learn. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 Many thanks for the compliment- Leslie's book of clangers is daily becoming more viable as a published work. All the very best Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 All trams tested apart from the big Erfurt one which I put somewhere safe after Newark ready to service and re-test- too safe as I now can't find it.... Green tram totally dead- motor burnt out. Replacement arrived from Wellington Models (not time to get one from Japan). Unfortunately it is silver and blue- duplicating one I bought a couple of years ago from SNCF Stephen. As a result the older one now had the bodyshell from the green one. With eight serviceable trams the next job is to test and clean the loco stock ready for Sileby this next weekend- and move Hawthorn Dene so I can get FO out of the shed...... All the very best Les Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 16, 2014 Author Share Posted February 16, 2014 Day ONE of Sileby Show New operator Chris Burch trained up and very competent. Trains running well apart from the shed line which is dead (I had forgotten that fault when I stored the layout after Newark last September and hadn't fixed it). Fault developed at lunchtime on the tramway- lost a section in the fiddle yard. Fortunately in the last half-hour I was able to borrow a Phillips screwdriver from Finishing Touches and open up the panel. A minute's work with the soldering iron cured a dry joint on the back of the switch, Thinks- screwdrivers come in two varieties- take both to shows....... Meanwhile a view the punter only sees if looking in from the town end of the layout- the canyon. Must get ready for today by finding the videocamera, carefully mislaid somewhere. All the very best Les 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les1952 Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 (edited) Aprés Sileby Layout, stock and operators all emerged unscathed from the show. No repairs needed to any of them...... Trevor Webster's new "Whatton Parva" won the award for favourite layout. Immediately afterwards a lady appeared with a small child bearing two gingerbread men- announcing this was the prize for her son's favourite layout as he'd insisted on presenting us with one. That's what you get for talking to young punters and asking them to count nuns, find the dog biting a porter followed by finding the cat keeping an eye on the dog etc. Still, the gingerbread men went down a treat........... Meanwhile the youth of Furtwangen are sitting and standing around talking, while Hans and Otto Schifter argue about who forgot to open the van door and which of them is going to put down their end of the box and do it. Just minor checking to do this time before Mansfield. Elaectrics are sorted (he says hopefully...........) Time for bed. Les Edited February 18, 2014 by Les1952 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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