ECC Wheal Imogen / Rosevean Station: the expansion

[The Fatadder]

23 minutes ago, railtec-models said:

@The Fatadder hopefully you received the email notification to say they went out on Friday?

 
I didn’t but thanks for that!  Based on the usual post I will be applying transfers on Monday.   Looking forward to trying the reflective stripe, I think it’s going to make life so much easier!

[The Fatadder]

The next job on the 37 was to refit the noses and glue on the centre windscreen etch, the former was a quick job with Evostick, the latter has been slightly delayed after moving the tray on which they were sitting and in the process catapulting the etches across the room.  One has been found and refitted, the other is proving more illusive!  Not helped by it being far too warm to be hunting around on the floor.  If I cant find it later I will just buy a replacement at Showcase... 

 

I have also managed to get the large body side grill painted grey (and complete any remaining paint touch ups.)   There is a small issue to overcome with the cab bulkheads, which sit is a slightly different place on the new model compared with the old one and thus dont fit in the chassis block when fitted to the body.  I am going to modify a spare old part to see if removing more material will allow it to fit (else the good part will get used on 671 instead).

 

 

Edited June 12, 2023 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

Had a lunchtime delivery from @railtec-models (their usual rapid turnaround) with all the transfers for 37521, the remaining transfers for the TCA, the blue TTA (which had the wrong tops panels previously as a place holder) and the to be designed large tank TUA.  I had one space spare on the sheet so added a bonus set for one of the Sea Urchins (the completion of the rest of the rake is planned for the winter).

Naturally that means lunch was spent adding transfers to models starting with the china clay tanks.  As ever on the 37 the pre made numbers make a huge difference (hence placing the order for the Railtec ones despite still having loads of Fox transfers in the box).  For 521 is particularly important as the nameplate is almost exactly the same length as the numbers below it. 

This was my first time using Railtec's orange cantrail stripe, which ive found suits me a lot more than alternative OHLE stripe transfers ive used.  While the reflective yellow stripe was so much easier than trying to mask and paint it!  I am actually debating whether I strip and repaint 37057 at some point later in the summer as I was never happy with the stripe (and as a result the loco is weathered to a photo a couple of years after my period to ensure its obscured.)

 

All of the transfers were sealed in with a final coat of Klear and its now ready for varnishing (which has been delayed thanks to the storms this evening).

Another arrival today (for which there will not be time to get finished for Showcase) is the pre production Kernow / Revolution Trains Cargowaggon twin set.  It will need end detail, steps and buffers adding, as well as transfers.   I plan on doing some upgrades on the Jon Hall kit at the same time to try and get both to a similar finish. (I will also need to finish my second example of Jon's single cargonwaggon so I can weather all 4 at the same time, depending on time this may  get painted this week in time for the show seeing as I already have transfers for it. 

The FAA has also seen progress, having borrowed some OO wheels from another wagon and been fitted couplings and a random mix of transfers.  It needs some custom work from Railtec to finish it off (a custom Tops panel / number and some lettering for 

Minimum curve 55m          1B  2B

Bogie Centres 15368mm   3B  4B

I am planning to finish off a 40ft Hi Cube container to run with it, and have the wagon running on the layout...

 

Edited June 12, 2023 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

Managed to get the 37 varnished before heading to the office this morning, it has also been wired for a decoder (modified for independent tail lights). 
 

All of which means that once I get home I can get the windows etc refitted, touch up the silver handrails / red around the isolation switches, a little exhaust dirt and put it back together. 
 

 

My slight issue now is that the 3 most detailed locos in 521, 065 and 671 don’t have wheels (and won’t get them until some point during the weekend). So tonight’s plan is to swap the wheels out of some of the other 37s that were used at Calne in order to get the best ones into service 

[The Fatadder]

 

not many days left until the show, lots of little tasks remaining.   it was a bit of a debate between whether to have the best detailed locos or those that are weathered (having not had time to weather the 3 upgraded 37s). It will be the weathered ones initially (aiming to get wheels in 521 as soon as they are dropped off at the stand.

 

in the mean time I have refitted the glazing etc.  I will probably get a little exhaust spot added, but full weathering will have to wait until the varnish has had time to fully cure.   671 is partially weathered so there is a small chance of getting this sorted in time.  Again it doesn’t have wheels.   37065 is far too clean and won’t be making the trip.

 

I still haven’t managed to find the missing window frame for 521, no doubt it will appear on Monday after I’ve bought (and fitted) a replacement. 

[St Enodoc]

45 minutes ago, The Fatadder said:

the best detailed locos or those that are weathered

I'd take the ones that work best1

[The Fatadder]

23 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

I'd take the ones that work best1

Right now that would be the ones with the wheels, as the others wont move very far...

More seriously, running is pretty evenly matched across all of the locos so that shouldnt be an issue.  The last two which were not running at Calne in April are currerntly getting a good running session on the rolling road to ensure everything is running nicely, 

[dj_crisp]

Looking ace!

 

They could simply be on an ex-works run in doing a gentle clay turn ;) 

[The Fatadder]

A couple more deliveries today, with the new layout lights and velcro to attach the drapes.  For lighting I am simply using two clip on LED lamps from Amazon which will attach to the backscene on either side.  I am undecided if it is a long term solution (I think a single LED tube light suspended from the facia would be better), but seeing as I needed the LED lights anyway for the workbench and for my daughter its worth a try.  I doubt I will bother upgrading it until I build the extension (at which point i loose the mounting point.)  

This does leave a slight issue with power as the USB wires are not long enough to converge on a single location, so it will need power at both ends of the layout (a simple enough fix). 

 

The velcro now needs gluing along the lower edge of the baseboards, my drapes are not due until Friday or Saturday (thanks to Guy I have a backup lined up).  

 

The final outstanding tasks are to add the extra colour to the grass (Thusday night after I take the layout down and move it downstairs) and adding the extra track to the fiddleyard (probably this evenings job).  I live in hope that the weather cools for the weekend (though from memory I am in the air conditioned room which should hopefully help minimise expansion nasties).  I had planned on having the layout set up for additional testing this week, however given the heat decided against it.    The only other job remaining is to finish the wheel cleaning, and test running of the stock that didnt run at Calne which probably needs a bit of a run to loosen up. 

[The Fatadder]

 

another job (almost) off the list, the Newquay fiddleyard has been extended adding a 4th storage road and lengthening road 3 to full length 

 

The plan is to now extend road 1 - 3 of the Par fiddleyard to the full 4 ft allowing them to work the yard as well as the branch (plus fit a 153 + 150 to help increase storage)

 

meanwhile class 37s are currently being cycled through the rolling road getting their running in completed.

[The Fatadder]

The Par fiddleyard has also now had its extra track laid, so the fiddleyard is now at full capacity.  Which is lucky seeing as since Calne I’ve added more wagons and more locos, not to mention the 150.

 

 

This did leave a couple of spare lengths of track, one of which has been fitted in the gap between road 4 and the headshunt on the Newquay yard to give a programming track.  Just in case there is a repeat of some of the random dcc issues that occurred ar Calne. 

[The Fatadder]

Throughout the day I’ve had the rolling road set up next to the laptop and a constant string of locos running to ensure everything is working as intended.  Particularly important with 37057/230/521/671/065, 60026 and 47016 which have not ran in a long time.  Two 37s had ceased motors, while the bogie mounts on 47016 had failed and required replacement.  The former sorted at lunch, the latter a 2 min job screwing on a brass plate as a replacement.

 

 

37521 has pinched the wheels from 230, it’s just too important a loco to leave at home.  As such it’s had a basic weathering job applied, with paint missing from a cab step, dirty roof / nose ends.  It still needs powders dirtying up the bogies once the paint is dry.

 

it also needs the lighting hard wired to the chassis now that the body is complete (along with a new cab front window frame, although that won’t get sorted until I see Brian at the show).

 

a little bit of soldering still to do on the fiddleyard boards now last nights glue on the new track has fully cured, then time to take down the scenic boards so that I can get the grass sorted.  I’ve also painted up some random etched drains / manhole covers which will be added at the same time 

[The Fatadder]

Other than a few track joints the needed shortening to avoid shorts, and the 150 pickups playing up on one bogie the layout has performed well today.  Thanks to Rich and Jo for their help.  
 

Just after setup, the drapes were a little see through thanks to the bright sun.

 

37521 finally in service, it gained the missing cab centre window frame at one end just before the show opened.

 

I really like these do not touch signs by steadfast models that Jo bought along. 
 

A little test running of Revolutions new nuclear  flask wagon, very nice it looks too!   A small shelf layout set around a nuclear flask terminal is on the to build list, ideally also tying in with my thoughts about a third rail project.   Not that this would happen until both the extension and Laira are done 

[The Fatadder]

So that is 2023's shows done,  

 

It was a warm weekend and the heat (both before and during the show) did cause a few issues.  The Par fiddleyard was shorting out on day 1 requiring almost a mm of rail removing off each track.  On day 2 the rail had expanded even further and once again was risking short circuits in one place.   I much prefer Sprint / Autumn shows temperature wise!   Halfway through Sunday the Lenz set 100 started to play up, it suddenly cut to a screen where the E before the loco number would start flashing, if you increased speed the V would flash instead and nothing would happen.   Pulling the plug and doing a hard reset worked the first time, but minutes later it happened again.  A quick dash across the venue to Mick's stand to be told quickly press the emergency stop button lots of time in short succession  which got the controller working again.   For the next hour or so this was happening regularly before disappearing as quickly as the issue arrived.  Before its next outing I am going to swap the Lenz kit with the Powercab that is currently on Brent. 

 

There are a few learnings, the first is that the layout has to have two operators as a minimum for the whole day.  Aside from the fact that I like to chat to viewers about china clay modelling and the background of the layout, I found that it was often ending up that the layout would end up with every train having a loco on the wrong end (meaning nothing moving while I swapped it all around).

 

I had planned on adding a rope along the front of the layout, for shows without barriers this will be critical going forward.  My fiddleyards extend almost a foot forwards (something that will get worse when I do one of the modifications).  Without barriers I was getting people standing in the way of the fiddleyard.

 

Having the run around loop on the traverser continued to cause problems, I think I have a solution which would be building a 900mm by 3 inch box to bolt onto the fiddleyard.  The run around loop track would be lifted and relaid, with its space filled with more track.  This would mean a point motor could also be fitted under the point making the whole thing controllable from the other end of the layout when running on your own.

 

The clip on lighting worked really well, so I think that will continue to be used in the future (unless I do the extension). 

 

Speaking of which, I am really torn about the extension. At present the layout is quite easy to manage for setup / taredown on my own, plus it all fits neatly in my current car.  However you have to use the traverser as part of the runaround, while the layout tends to be ran completely separately between yard and branch.   The extension would tie this all together nicely, but if I continue to struggle with operators would making it bigger make my life easier or harder...  Conversely the alternative of building the Laira inspired layout redesigned onto a single 4ft or 5ft board would potentially be a better choice as a layout to run on my own.  I do like the idea of having a number of small layout options sharing the same fiddleyard giving the opportunity to model different areas.  A decision will be made over the summer I suspect, before committing to what I will be brining to 2024/5 shows.

 

 

 

 

[The Fatadder]

A couple more photos from the show thanks to @Gilbert for allowing me to share his photos here:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/103471893@N02/52985872815/in/album-72177720309164280/

DEMU Layouts 16 | Chris H | Flickr

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/103471893@N02/52985642639/in/album-72177720309164280/

DEMU Layouts 15 | Chris H | Flickr

 

Also nice to see photos of my CDAs appearing on Cavalex's socials after the weekend.   Nice to see the layout running on a couple of youtube videos (all be it one of them had 37521 doing its first run of the day needing to shake out a few cobwebs.)   

 

I am now on the look out for exhibition invites for the next couple of years.  The layout is currently 4ft scenic with 8ft of fiddleyard, this could be extended to 8ft scenic with 8ft of fiddleyard.  Based in the south of Gloucestershire, happy to travel up to 2.5 hours (although would travel further for a chance to show the layout in Cornwall).  1 day shows within about an hour's drive from GL11 are also welcome. Please drop me a PM and I can sort out more details. 

 

 

[The Fatadder]

I had a delivery today with the PCA project, All 5 have now been reassembled with a few minor repairs. 2 still need a repair to the pipe work on one end (which will be soldered up tomorrow morning).

 

 

the previous owner half renumbered them (the tops panels need changing to match) after which they will need couplings and weathering.

 

I think the set of 5 plus a loco is pretty much the max for the Newquay fiddleyard.  Eventually I will need another five which will run with the Cargowaggons I already have.  Of course I sold the Blue Circle ones a couple of years ago as being surplus to requirements (though I prefer the standard ones anyway).

[dj_crisp]

They were a bargain Rich ;) 

 

I've got some Accurascale PCAs but have struggled to get them to run well in EM. I also think the Bachmann PCA is probably more suitable so will probably change at some point. 

 

I look forward to seeing how these turn out.

[The Fatadder]

Still haven’t quite finished the PCA repairs, in the end I couldn’t find the right diameter of brass rod to solder up the missing pipe so have drawn in cad to do a print.   At any rate I’ve got a bit of time now before the layout is next out (seeing as I have yet to fleet a firm booking off the back of the conversations at Demu).

 

in the mean time I’ve been finishing off a short set that will run along the branch.   As ever playing a little loose with real geography I’ve moved Ponts Mill further along the line.  One of the interesting workings in 1999/2000 was a loco (usually either an 08 or a 37) with a set of between one and three CDA and a brake van taking wagons between St Blazey and Ponts Mill for refurbishment.  
 

at the moment I either run 7 or 6 CDA depending on whether I have one wagon overhanging the traverser.  Of course this will be less of an issue should I do the traverser modifications.  Either way I still have plans for at least 1 more CDA modelling the prototype wagon.  Either the prototype or the EWS wagon can be used with the brake van as a short additional

train passing the works on the way back to st blazey (it’s not ideal as really the wagon needs switching each time so you have a dirty blue frame going one way and a dirty wagon with clean chassis and ews frame going the other.

 

the brake van was on my sales pile from Showcase 22 where thankfully it didn’t sell.  Last night it was weathered, will be fitted with a 3d printed tail lamp (when I can find it) and will be good to go 

[The Fatadder]

Yesterday (11/8/23) was the final day of service for the CDA wagons serving the china clay works of Cornwall.

 

I couldn’t let this pass without a bit  of CDA modelling.   I have long wanted a model of the prototype CDA 353224, so this weekend seemed an appropriate time to crack on with building one.    
 

The starting point is of course the excellent Cavalex model.   There are a a few key differences between 353224 and the production CDA: the brake gear is all mounted under the chassis as per a HAA, the body is fitted the other way round to a conventional CDA, and ladders are fitted on both ends.  It was originally fitted with HAA style buffers, but at some point these were retrofitted with the normal CDA self contained version.   As built the ends were also very different, but were at some point t rebuilt in the standard CDA style.  Finally the end slots are in a slightly different position (although having tried modelling these previously on a Hornby model, I will live with the slight discrepancy here).

 

I only recently confirmed the buffers were modified recently after finding a photo of the real thing in 1997 and another in 2000.  Confirming that the livery was the same as any other CDA in the fleet complete with the remains of the old ECC logos.

 

 

the plan for the build uses a HAA model for its chassis and a CDA body, the spare chassis is earmarked for an MAA which should start construction in the week….

 

the model was broken down into constituent parts, switching the blue locking mechanisms over and swapping over the buffers

 

The chassis parts for the roof mech were removed before the model was then reassembled with the body the opposite way round.

 

 

it needs a few more detail bits refitted, along with renumbering once I’ve got some ordered.   Then it can be weathered.

 

 

[The Fatadder]

A little more work refitting the details along with finishing the paint on the ex ECC panel and the wagon is pretty much done.   It will need a set of custom numbers from Railtec to finish it off, so I had best drop them an email (as I will of course sort out other wagons at the same time, including the revised tops panel for the Rainbow Tua. 
 

there are a few marks on the roof which will need touching in once I start weathering.  Given the amount of filth to go on it, that’s not a big deal….

 

the underframe detail is rather lost in the black.  Once weathered it will show off the differences a lot better.  Looking forward to getting it weathered, the only question is whether or not to get another pair to weather at the same time.  375000 is crying out to be modelled with its different end detail…..

 

in the mean time, next in the to do list will be checking if I have enough plastic to do the ribs on the MAA body.  If not I will probably just print it…

[The Fatadder]

A start on another Bachmann 37, this time the latest body for 37262 being mounted on a first generation Bachmann chassis block and a hybrid of last gen bufferbeams and 3d printed fuel tanks.  
 

the fixing points for the new 37 are completely different to the older models, (as are the locations for the cab bulkheads).   The latter will be modified as per 37521, but this time with a bit more time I wanted to do a better job of the body fixings.  The central body fixings are in a completely different place that would require precision drilling / milling the block to relocate.  So these will be chopped off.  Last time due to the time constraints I did the same for the nose fittings.  This time I have a lot more time, so I’m doing it properly.

 

a plate of 60 thou plasticard is screwed to the Bachmann body fittings.  On the bufferbeam moulding half the raised boss around the screw holes was removed to clear the extra screw.   Two extra holes were opened up in line with the original 37 locations to allow it to be screwed to the plate.

 

noses were the best fit I’ve seen on. Bachmann model, and really hard to shift.  Annoyingly they had to come off in order to fit the high intensity (and disable the Scottish headlight.)

Once the Replica part is fitted I will remove the original led and wire in a separate one for the new light…

 

still can’t decide if it will stay as 262 in tatty grey, or get a respray as a either a coal sector (seeing as it’s another livery not in the fleet) or Dutch (replacing the current 230)

[The Fatadder]

A little more progress this evening, it really needs the ends refitting before I can add the final holes for the chassis fixings, which means fitting the new headlights.   I’m going to save a little time here reusing a spare set of 37/4 lighting boards from the spare ends left over from 37521.  I keep thinking about doing a 37/4 from one of my spare bodies (or using the improved ends with suitable modifications on another refurb) at which point I can worry about fixing the other lighting boards…

 

so I’ve measured and drilled the holes for the Replica headlights once I either find the ones I’ve misplaced or sourced some more.  The inside of the nose needs modifying to add an enclosure around the led.   Fortunately l the yellow paint on the real thing was very tatty and not very uniform, making the touch ups a lot easier.  It helps that the two areas I need to paint are areas that where modified post painting on the real thing 

 

once the lights are refitted the plan is to glue the ends back on and crack on with the chassis mounts 

[The Fatadder]

Lots of progress last night, 37262 now just needs its headlights fitting, some filler work on the temporary fuel tank (until it’s replaced with a print) and I can start on the weathering.  It could also do with a Shawplan roof grill adding (or at least the rubbish frame replaced with a Shawplan one).

 

I have tried to model the remains of the old car headlight, removed the nameplate (which will return as a rusty stain on the bodyside) along with removing the BR logos.  My layouts sit in a 1998/99 period, with a tendency to 99.  626 ran on the clay in 98 with red OHLE flashes, but by 99 had gained the new yellow ones.   I haven’t yet decided which I will go for….

 

I think the plan will be to give the ends and sides light dusting of white paint to fade the paint.   It will then need a lot of distressing to match the prototype. 

[The Fatadder]

 

high intensity lights now fitted, along with temporary modifications to the fuel tank (which will do the job until I print some new ones).   Pretty much at a point I can start weathering now, though I might do the wiring first if I can find a suitable decoder to fit (that has 4 working functions) 

[GWR57xx]

37s look good in pretty much any livery but that’s the best of them all IMO.

Proper Job.