ECC Wheal Imogen / Rosevean Station: the expansion

[The Fatadder]

54 minutes ago, dj_crisp said:

Very nice weathering!

Thanks, I am very pleased with them.  To be honest they are the perfect size for a weathering project, not too big and no awkard places to get the brush into.  I have a feeling that the clay tiger is not going to be as enjoyable (and my be better off using the airbrush to get dirt into all the nooks.) 

 

 

[The Fatadder]

Next up a Kernow clay tiger, as attractive as the ecc blue livery is, in the late 90s it was more a case of brown with blue patches!  I’ve used a rough l mix of 4 different Vallejo shades as a basic covering wiping the paint off the details.  This was then given another application of a different shade (more leather) to get more variation.  It still needs a final application with streaks of white / off white to finish off along with doing something about the handrails.

I found it a lot easier to remove the bogies to get access to paint the inner edges of the hopper, so of course these still need reattaching.

 

one area I couldn’t get to a standard I was happy with is the ECC logo.  On the prototype some have this cleaned as well as the Tiphook logo and the info panels.  Others (including the initial prototype photo I was using) the area around the ECC logo is dirty the same as the rest of the wagon, it looks like the logo is white on brown.   The solution this time was to change photos, but next time I will be painting and lettering the wagon so I will spray the blue patches then spray the rest brown and apply the ecc transfer directly to the brown paint.

 

[The Fatadder]

Flicking through BR Air Braked Stock Vol 3 I have come across another photo that I must have seen before (and forgotten about) of TTA CAIB 51954 showing it in heavily weathered ECC blue.  Just so happens that I have two spare tanks that I had been debating selling, one of which is already mounted to a chassis.  I think this will now be put in the to paint pile for a coat of ECC blue in the new year.

 

I still fancy drawing up the ex Tiger TT072G tanks with the larger diameter barrel, though I dont have a drawing I think I can estimate it from the TTA chassis dimensions.    Another interesting candidate is the TT072D which I think had an even smaller diameter barell closer to that of the TUA, I have one photo circa 2001 of 51636.  I need to check Barrowmore's website to see if there is an outline drawing for this, I think it is also on a TTA chassis (well TTB in this case) but I want to check.  Again if no drawing hopefully I can estimate the key dimensions from the photo.

[The Fatadder]

And a little work with white for this evening, it still needs a bit more work I think but I’m not sure what.  Maybe a bit of white weathering powder

 

the two white ones will be painted blue in the spring (along with the blue tta) although from memory 3 tigers is Wheal Imogen’s limit).  Need to make some sales now to buy two more pollybulks….

[The Fatadder]

More china clay TTAs, first up a TT072G which had a slightly bigger diameter tank which was not mounted as low into the chassis.  It also had a shorter barrel and end walkways rather than side walkways.  

I only managed to find an outline drawing (I think in as built condition) so most of this has been determined by scaling from photographs, and comparison with the TT072F that I had already drawn.  Definitely welcome any feedback here that can be used to correct or refine the drawing.  It follows the same approach as the previous design as a top to fit on a Bachmann TTA chassis.  A sub frame is added below to help hold the base square while printing.
Untitled by The Fatadder, on Flickr

Untitled by The Fatadder, on Flickr

Untitled by The Fatadder, on Flickr

Tonight I plan on completing the set and drawing the TT072A (of which I think only one remained in traffic in 1999), again I have a rough outline from the Barrowmore website along with lots of photos to work from.  This has a smaller diameter tank and should make for a nice contrast with the other versions.  

Hopefully will get some test shots of both designs printed early in the new year, then it will be a case of looking at what in the Stenson range can be hacked about to produce the walkways.  I think a combination of a TTA walkway and the scrap brass left from the TT072F walkways will do the TT072G, less sure on the TT072A

[The Fatadder]

Next step on the original clay tta is the ladders.  The ideal would have been a custom etch to solder up in the style of the Stenson or 51L products.  Alas the budget didn’t stretch to that so instead I’ve used a Mainly Trains ladder to which I’ve soldered a handrail.  All rather fiddly but at least it finishes a major detail, these just need a coat of a weathering mix before gluing in place, leaving just the tops panels left to sort (which will be ordered from Railtec at some point soon).   Depending on how soon we get some spring like weather will govern how soon I can paint the third tank in ECC blue and print the other two designs.   The aim being that by the layouts trip to DEMU in June I can run a train comprising 4 different designs of 4 wheel tank, a train of bullets and a mixed train.   (I’ve seen photos of the latter, though I’d assume formed from wagons leaving different works).

[The Fatadder]

Here are the TTA now fitted with ladders, all being well I will get the final transfer ordered this afternoon to finish them off.  This will also include numbers for the next 4 wagons as well. 
 

 

The slurry loader will be getting a lot of work at the Calne show in April!

 

later in the week I will do a little more work on the drawings for the other two designs, getting the support structure drawn up so I can get them on the printer as soon as it’s warm enough to do so.

[The Fatadder]

More china clay tanks, first print of the tt072G slurry tanks (with the final slurry tank due to be on the printer this evening)

 

 

it now needs sanding down, fixing the random cut on the right hand side (only on one side of one of the two wagons printed simultaneously.)  

 

I have Bachmann POA chassis which will need the springs correcting, discharge equipment adding, along with Stenson walkways and my own print for the tank filler.   Again there is not exactly the right walkway available, so I will be modifying one of the Stenson parts to get as close as possible.

 

 

[The Fatadder]

Just tested it on a chassis and I’m pretty much convinced that I’ve made the barrel about 3mm too short. It’s certainly a lot more complicated to produce a 3d model when you don’t have a decent drawing to start from.

Along with the crude outline drawing in the BR wagons documents on Barrowmoor’s site (which really only gave overall length /height) I’ve been working from photos.   I’ve now found a better side on photo and I think I’m right in saying that the start of the cone starts at the inside edge of the outer suspension hanger.  So the tank side should be 82mm in length 
Lots of redrawing needed!

Next time I draw something from scratch I think I will draw up the chassis as well (even if not required) as if I had done so the error would have been more apparent sooner.)  I think I am ok on the other tank design though at least, so will press on and print that tonight. 

[The Fatadder]

I have now worked out the error, having taken a dimension off point shifting a datum used for a lot of the barrel dimensions off.  Fortunately this evening I have been volunteered to run the bar at the girl's school for upper prep's spring play.  As my girls are not in this year I have no need to be in watching, so plenty of time to sit behind the bar with a beer and the laptop and fix the drawing.

 

Fortunately unlike the first clay TTA this time I had a bit more logic in my drawing, and thus was able to make a few small changes to the dimensions to correct the required dimension and I now have a much more accurate model ready to print.   

 

 

I had hoped to get the other tank design printing before heading out, but walking into the printer's room it was far too cold to start printing (and there wasnt time to drain the tank and warm up the resin like I did yesterday.)  So I think I will probably end up setting the mk2 version of the TT072G tomorrow and saving the TT072D for Thursday.  All being well I will be able to get the supports added in act two!

[The Fatadder]

Wheal Imogen will be on the road in a couple of months time at the Calne show.  
 

There are a few jobs ahead of me, ensuring all the locos are dcc fitted, fitting new couplings to the clay TTA, building 3 more clay TTA, hopefully getting a delivery of my Cavelex CDA and Rainbow TUA (and getting them rewheeled and weathered) 

 

Layout wise it needs the branch line fiddle yards setting up, lighting fitting properly rather than propped on the top and of course the usual cleaning etc.   I should have a day off next week to make a proper start, and of course the day before the show booked off for final preparation.   All in all it should make for a perfect trial run in advance of its next outing in Sutton Coldfield in June.   

[The Fatadder]

Revised print of the TT072G slurry tank is now complete, unfortunately removing it from its supports I slipped with the saw and smashed one side.  I am planing to have a go at fixing it (if not i will reprint).

 

looking a lot better the correct barrel length.

 

not so good, but I think fixable.

these have both now had the first coat of primer followed by sanding back to clean up some of the layering in the print.  It will get a second coat tomorrow (possibly followed by more sanding)

 

I have also made a start on the underframes, with a milling bit in the dremmel (fitted into its pillar drill mount) the incorrect Bachmann springs were easy to remove.   (Given thar 90% of the wagons they’ve released on this chassis should have the later springs, I can’t understand why Bachmann modelled the early ones).    To do this first the brake gear had to be removed (both for access and to get a flat surface on the solbar so the wagon is square for milling.). These are a bit of a pain to get out!

 

once done, Stenson Models cast springs were fitted (a massive improvement over the old Cambrian / S kits springs I’ve used before).  I now have about 25 more engineers wagons that need the same treatment….

 

the final clay TTA is currently printing and should get a first coat of primer / sand tomorrow.

 

Also in my Wills Workbench delivery today was 3 sets of Stenson TTA walkways (there should have been a forth but I forgot to order it!). these will be folded up tomorrow ready for printing.   I’ve also had confirmation the transfers from Railtec are on the way so hopefully will have some complete wagons soon…..

[The Fatadder]

thanks to @railtec-modelsfor the custom tops numbers to go with the other transfers from their TTA sheet. The first pair of TTA are now finished. Though I may yet change one or both couplings to Dinghams once I decide how they will be used on the layout.

 

the two TT072G wagons have now been sanded back to remove the layering and fitted with their walkways.  Ladders will be fitted after painting and weathering the main tank.  Again a Stenson product was used (shortened with the off cut modified to fit the other side).  They should be painted and fitted with transfers tonight/tomorrow.  Looking at the transfers I ordered I must have only planed to do one of these so I’m a little short (and will be cobbling together tops panels from the spare sheets), not the end of the world.

 

 

finally the TT072D has been printed and checked, along with a first sand (after taking this photo.  It’s now drying after washing before another coat of primer to confirm the condition of the sides, and fitting the etches / gluing body to chassis this evening. Again I have modified a Stenson etch to get as close as possible to the real thing.

[The Fatadder]

Started work on the paint and transfers, the paint is a rough mix of Vallejo sea grey and buff, not a lot of the base colour will be left once they are weathered (very little of the red solbar so I wasn’t too worried that it looks tatty).

 

a few patch painted areas were then added, 51962 still had a tiger logo in the late 90s, while 51963 had it painted out.   51636 also had a painted out tiger logo but you could still see the lettering under the paint, I’m hoping painting over the transfer will have a similar effect…

 

still need to add the other smaller transfers tomorrow, then can start the fun part and weather them.   Although hopefully the printed bits will come out ok so I can get them added first.  Ladders will be weathered off model at the same time as the side.

[The Fatadder]

Printed parts are good to go, so will have those fitted sometime over the weekend.  Transfers add also finished, the paint over transfer is a little fainter than I’d hoped. Wondering if a black Tiger transfer on top of a black grey background might work better.

 

 

[The Fatadder]

Layout has been packed up and moved to the in-laws house to take advantage of their holiday to set up and test.  Alas the rugby has got in the way of the setup side of things but at least it’s in the right place now.

 

I am debating shortening the backscene to make My life easier for transport.

 

At the moment the jobs list appears to be:

-fix a broken switch 

-rust issues 

-I’m not happy with the slurry siding overgrown buffers, thinking of ripping out and replacing (maybe with a concrete buffer stop) 

-damage to the facia

-improve legs, try to make set up easier

-better inter board bolts 

-lay track on new left hand fiddleyard 

-solution needed for branch track on right hand traverser, the issue is that the branch track is about ten mm higher than the yard (a decision I continue to regret)  

-locking bars on fiddleyard 

-check rails on ends of track on fiddleyard

Edited February 12, 2023 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

A little weathering after work today and the clay TTA are now complete 

 

pair of TT072G

 

TT072D the Tiger lettering shows up a lot better once weathered.

 

size comparison between the three wagons showing the differences between them.

 

Just need my Rainbow Railways TUAs to finish the set (and to paint the ECC blue TT072F)

[The Fatadder]

One silly mistake on the clay tanks was to leave coupling fitting until after detailing / weathering the wagons.  The Bachmann TTA is not the easiest model on which to fit new couplings  (although far from the hardest), the thick plastic bufferbeam (with solid chassis behind it) ideally needs to be prepared in advance.  Of course in my haste to get a look at the finished model I forgot this step.   Its not helped by the unnecessarily wide coupling hook Dingham use needing a 2mm slot (when 1mm would be perfectly adequate).   

 

In the process I did end up loosing two ladders, but after spending ages thinning down the coupling shanks they were dipped into Casey's Gun Blue and this morning fitted to the wagons (along with repairing those ladders).  So now the first 6 wagons are ready for service, at the same time I also fitted couplings to one of the Sea Urchin and a CEA.  The plan was to also finally fit couplings to 37670 but while the couplings were assembled, it hit a snag that I will come back to...   At present the tanks are formed into a set of 3 (hook, instanters, hook), and two with hook and dingham. One of the TUA will need to be double hooked to work with these, with the other two and the ECC blue TTA probably ending up as hook / dingham.

 

Wheal Imogen was my first layout using Dingham couplings, for some reason that I cant recall I chose not to follow the standard approach.  Instead fitting a loop coupling on both ends of locos and a hook on the end of fixed wagon sets.  I am now debating as to whether or not this was actually a good idea in practice..... Something to look into when testing.  I think the logic was that it enabled locos to work both ways round, with wagons formed in mini sets (with a few singles mixed in).   It does mean that you are a little more limited when it comes to shunting though. 

 

 

The following rambling is probably more for my own benefit, working out what needs doing from a stock perspective before Calne / Showcase. 

For Calne my plan is to limit the stock to a smaller sample of locos than used previously, with the intention being 3 Class 37, a class 47, class 60, Class 150 and Class 153.  Most of which are going to require DCC decoders reinstalling having previously lost them to Brent's fleet....

 

For Class 47s there are 4 possible locos, either of the Bachmann RFD pair, or Vi Trains 47768 RES or 47016 in Large Logo grey.  The RFD and RES machines are pretty much ready to go, so I will probably end up selecting whichever of the 3 locos runs best.  47016 is awaiting weathering.

 

For the Class 60 its a bit more difficult, 60026 is the most complete (weathered, couplings, P4) but also the least interesting.  The Loadhaul 059 needs weathering and work to its bogies, while Transrail 085 also needs weathering and is still OO.   Either way I think neither of the P4 locos are particularly good runners and will need attention.  I have read elsewhere about using Heljan gears in a Hornby 60 for a more reliable P4 conversion, which has got me thinking.  I have at least one of my Vi Trains 47s converted to P4 with Heljan 47 Ultrascales, so I may try a set of these in the 60...

 

The DMUs only need DCC fitting

 

Finally the Class 37, The intention is to have 2 regular clay locos and one extra.  With the desire being that they are selected from my modified fleet (with corrected bogie height, new fuel tanks etc).  At present this gives me a choice between 510 (unfinished), 670 (as above, unfinished), 667 (not really a core Cornish loco, OO, and unfinished).  So there is a fair amount of work to do....

37670 is a certainty, it doesnt need a lot of work (painted reinforced windscreens, couplings, remove the horrendous Bachmann weathering and redo)

37521 would have been ideal, other than the fact I dont really want to bring two of the same class in the same livery.  Other than fitting the reinforced centre windscreen (the etch for which is sat on the bench), it needs a complete set of one piece nose grills fitting, painting and reweathering.  I also want to redo the washed out Fox transfers with Railtec's to get a closer match to the body paint.

37672 bodywise is pretty much there, but no start has been made on lowering / fuel tanks yet.

So from this I would say the core pair will end up being 670 and 672, hopefully with 521 added for Showcase.

 

For the extra it is between 057, 065, 230, 403, 510 or 710, with all off them needing a fair bit of work.  I think one of the 37/0 probably makes the most sense for contrast, so probably 230 or 065 getting in the queue for some upgrade work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[James Makin]

Looking awesome Rich! 😎

 

The coupling fittings on the Bachmann TTA/MKA/MTA chassis are a right pain, my lazy technique I’ve got into is to drill a massive circular hole with a minidrill sanding attachment behind the bufferbeam -

 

 

The giant hole then makes it easy to get access for the coupling, with an Archimedes drill in at the bufferbeam to open out the front end of the hole and oodles of superglue to fix!

This is another reason why I can’t wait for the hopefully-definitive Hornby TTA to come out, the end of the overly fiddly faffing around on the chassis of these things..!

 

Cheers,

James

[The Fatadder]

That was the intention, alas I completely forgot before gluing the barrel on.  When I get on with the Limpet / PNA I will make sure to drill first!

[The Fatadder]

Put the layout up before work this morning. I’ve not yet been able to add the fiddleyard, there are some screws holding on the backscene which need redoing to ensure they do not stick out.

 

im also thinking about cutting down the height by 6-8 inches (it’s currently 49 inches floor to rail).  This will not happen until I finish working on it though. 
 

Tomorrow I have a day off work to really crack on with it, the aim is for get the track cleaned and get the fiddle yard put up, along with adding cross supports to the legs.

 

One good thing was that a test of the points showed everything is still working.  The wiring damage I was thinking of was to the switch for the now removed signal.

on the down side, I am more concerned with the branch track.  The track stops at the edge of the baseboard.  However there is then a 5mm gap where the backscene is screwed on the end.  On the entrance yard I added a small plate to extend the baseboard  through the gap (there is a 6 inch solid section in front of the treverser it can be mounted to).   On the other end the treverser is intended to join straight to the layout leaving a big gap.  Not sure what I’m going to do here yet….

 

_______________________

 

Yesterday I cracked on with a project that has long been needed, finishing off 37670.

As mentioned previously the Bachmann weathered finish was awful and needed to go, I had tried using IPA but unusually it didn’t seem to touch it.  At which point I gave TCut a try, which worked perfectly.  A wipe down with IPA after helped to

remove most of the white residue (anything left will get sorted with I apply a little more weathering.). The roof was left alone as it doesn’t look too bad, while the ends were a real pain to shift the sandy coloured spray and required new numbers adding.

before

after (previously fitted with new fuel tanks, lowered and bogies fitted with new brake cylinders).  Just removing the sand spray makes a big improvement I think 

[The Fatadder]

Productive lunch brake (despite the temperature in the house currently at 7 degrees and the heating engineer not due until Friday morning!)

 

The backscene screws have been removed and refitted flush to the plywood, in turn this allowed me to fit the legs and install the fiddleyard.   This time it has been fitted with a pair of 12mm coach bolts to better allow for alignment, annoyingly despite the clamps it shifted slightly while drilling so the hole on one side had to be slightly enlarged to get level track across the joint.   This could prove a bit of an issue when setting up, however I had already planned on adding a length of 2by2 across the joint (the intention being that this will make set up easier, having a shelf that the fiddleyard will sit on while doing the bolts up).

 

I have yet to set up the other end given the various issues so far, the layout will need to extend through a door to be set up with the second fiddleyard and I dont want to do that until it becomes necessary.  However I have a solution, If I was to add a spare length of 2by2 softwood to the end of the fiddleyard as a base onto which I will add a short length of scrap plywood with a 5mm overhang the same as the other end) I can fill the gap (and have somewhere onto which I can add the locking bar for the selector).   The original plan intended for the two works sidings to continue through to the fiddleyard, but the multi level between the branch and yard would massively complicated this.

There is no avoiding this issue at the right hand side of the layout given the fiddleyard has to serve both the yard entrance and the branch.   At the moment there is about a 20mm difference in height between the branch and the board top in the fiddleyard.  Not sure on how I will resolve this yet, the obvious is going to be making a new one from ply on some spacers (although I dont think I have anything suitable at present).

 

The next jobs are going to be adding the lighting, cross braces on the legs and starting on the rust clean up.  The latter is going to be a huge job (no doubt one that I need to repeat before Demu in June as well).  Despite best efforts cleaning up afterward at the time every single place that has been soldered has rusted badly, a bit of a problem given how much of the track was of copper clad construction!  Thankfully half the rail is Nickle Silver and of course is in perfect condition...   Id say I will never again use steel, but given I still have a fair bit of it left I suspect I will be adding the extra fiddleyard roads with steel rail as well... 

Edited February 15, 2023 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

Had a day off work working on the layout in preparation for Calne, the aim being to get the repairs and improvements complete and hopefully get a train running.

 

The first job was the rust, which was a lot worse than expected.  There was also rust around the padrol clips (as well as the areas I expected to see it where soldering had taken place.)   The rust was also particularly bad on the sides of the rail (which was a lot more difficult to clean up.)  I am debating (for the fiddleyard) getting a tin of Hammerite anti rust and painting the whole board with it (then cleaning back the rail tops).  For the scenic board the facia was removed to provide better access before tackling the rust, it wasnt quite so bad here (having already had one go back in 2020).

 

The next job was some work on the fiddleyard, which didnt really go to plan.  The aim was to install a series of brass pads onto which I would then solder brass tube (for which I have an aluminium rod that is a perfect internal fit.)  In practice this was a nightmare, I only had my 25w backup soldering iron (with a 2mm bit) and it didnt produce nearly enough heat to solder a good joint between pipe and base.  Worse still it did make enough heat to soften the epoxy ruining the alignment.   The plan is to bring the proper soldering iron with me tomorrow night and have another go.  On the plus side the two lengths I did manage to fit did prove the concept works (before the poor solder joints failed).

 

Moving onto some scenic work, I have never liked the area around the buffer stop in the slurry siding.  So today I removed all the bushes (and transferred them to the other overgrown areas), sanded back the area and painted with mix of white and grey.  This needs a little more work to blend into the existing ground colour, along with a touch up to the grass / weeds along the rail line, but I am a lot happier with it now. 

 

I have also made some changes to the bridge, adding the stereotypical bus (in this case a base toys model that I repainted as my old school bus circa 1999).  Along with a model of my first car (all be it 4 years before I would buy it), given it was actually owned by someone in clay country at the time it feels rather fitting. 

The next job in the list was back to the fiddleyard, working on a solution for the branch.  I have used some offcuts of ply to bridge the gap between scenic board and fiddleyard, while a length of 4 by 1 softwood is the perfect thickness to raise the height on the traverser section.  Of course this means I probably need to go and buy another length of timber for the other fiddleyard legs).

 

Next up was some testing (VGA, CEA and Cargowaggon), the VGA highlighted a number of issues that required fixing (one issue was caused by rust, another appeared to be an expansion of the plaster narrowing flangeways).  The final issue was traced to surface rust on the wheels, and rusted suspension springs on one of the VGA!  No idea where this has come from seeing as there was no soldering involved...

This was followed by an attempt to test a loco (37670 being the chosen candidate seeing as it has a decoder).  After nearly killing my Lenz system when the transformer shorted out (the wires had slightly pulled out of the connector to the LZV100 sparking and smoking as I pulled it out (getting a burn in the process).  Thankfully after redoing the wires and testing the Lenz kit and the locos decoder are all still in full working order!   The loco was a bit odd, you could hear the motor moving but not the loco.  Turns out when I lowered it I only refitted one driveshaft (and didnt have a suitable screwdriver to fix it).

Finally the lighting rig has been fitted, which now just needs the frame painting black.   I am undecided about the lighting colour, I think its probably a bit too blue.  I will look into whether there is a suitable filter that could be mounted over the tubes containing the LEDs to change the colour slightly.  There were also a few modifications to the legs, adding a cross brace of 2by2 along the top edge.  The logic is that when putting this up on my own this will help getting everything in the right place whilst adding a bit more structural support.   It still needs a lower cross brace, but I pinched the timber for the support structure for the lighting rig.

Work remaining:

• Set up the left hand fiddleyard (this needs the extension section screwing on, bolting to the main board and track adding.
• Add track to the branch fiddleyard on the RH side, I will probably change the design of the end fence while I am at it to provide an extra storage road).
• A bit more work around the buffers tiding things up and blending the colours.
• Fiddleyard locking bars
• Possibly add check rails on the fiddleyard transition joints, I think I will definitely add them to the entrance tracks that transition into the scenic board.  I was about to add them using a bodge I have used on Brent completely forgetting that you cant get away with that in P4! More thought will be needed as to how I will retrofit.
• Actually test properly
• Add decoders to those locos that do not have one

 

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by The Fatadder

[The Fatadder]

Couple more quick jobs ticked off before work this morning, the proper soldering iron (and decent solder) made short work of adding the locking bars to the fiddleyard.  The lock for the second track entering the scenic board had to be reguled in place, so at lunch I will be able to test and see if it has actually worked.  The intention is that the angle of the bar was set by the first track, all four fiddleyard roads match it so in theory matching the angle of the bar on the second track will ensure all 4 are ok.

 

With that done, it was a quick job to dismantle 37670 to refit the errant drive shaft.   A design flaw in the Bachmann class 37 with that it has very weak bogie frame retention clips on one side.  Naturally those on 37670 decided to fail on me at the worst possible time (and I dont have a drill with me to do my usual repair, using a spare Bachmann loco screw to hold the frame to the bogie tower.)  So testing will have to be done without the bogie frame.  At least with the extra access to the wheels I can get them cleaned easier...

 

I have done a first clean of the soldered areas, but I will give it a going over with the wire brush followed by another clean at lunch, at which point I want to do some testing with the 37 to a) check its progress through the points and the sections of track on the scenic section that were giving issues yesterday and b) check a loco and wagons through the fiddleyard - layout transition and traverser - exit transition.  This will hopefully highlight whether or not there is a need for the additional check rails mentioned yesterday.

 

Speaking of the fiddleyard, I have been giving thought to the design for the other end of the layout.  I need to order rail and copperclad strip, but I am thinking it will be pretty easy to build it multi gauge so that it can also be used for the other layout.  

[The Fatadder]

Work on the layout at lunch was a lot less productive…

 

With the locking bars now in place the next task was to test.  This is where the issues started with continuous derailments.  From what I can make out there are slight differences in rail height between traverser and the track  next to it.  A part where the gauge narrowed (now fixed). And some inherent design issues.

 

For visual reasons I decided to have the yard at an angle to the branch rather than keeping it all perpendicular.  This means the two tracks leaving the yard are at an angle, this then crosses a second angular joint between the 3 inch fixed service and the moving part of the traverser.  At which point it goes through a curve (circa 6 inches) to get the track back parallel to the board edge).

 

at each of these transitions there are issues, as well as LWB vans and long bogie vans not liking the curve. 
 

I think with 8 weeks to the show I am at a critical decision, try putting a lot of time into rebuilding the fiddleyard, or build new track from scratch (in OO) which will allow for greater tolerance of my inability to

do woodwork.   (The thought of buying a new fiddleyard from Tim Horn or Grange and Hodder was discounted on the basis that the poor track design on the main layout (and associated need for these extended end sections) would still be present.

 

 

I am going to give it some thought this evening and make a decision ASAP, so that I can quickly get on with the rebuild whichever way it goes.

 

 

in the meantime on a more positive note, the TTA look rather nice in their proper surrounding