SRman's Current Layout - Newton Broadway

[Neil_S_Wood]

Thanks for that Jeff.  I'd been looking out for somewhere that stocks that for a while.  It would be handy for the front of a layout to keep little fingers off.  I'll have to try and get some time off and pop round soon to see it in the flesh.

Cheers

Neil

[DougN]

Neil, the acrylic is available from bunnings it is up in the timber area but in the bit where the cars are. You might have to ask. I have a sheet of white for the same reason. But since I went over to DCC control of points I don't think I will use it!

[Neil_S_Wood]

Thanks Doug,  it's more about keeping the kids off the layout.  I'll head to Bunnings for some.

[SRman]

 

Both the Bratchell Model kits of classes 455/8 and 456 covered in my blog entries, in Network Southeast livery, running "in multiple" through Newton Broadway LT station. I had just fitted the unit ends with Parkside kits NEM coupling adapters and Kadee #18 and #20 couplings, respectively. The couplings are mounted directly on the bodies, rather than on the bogie extensions, as is the case of the intra-unit couplings.

Unit 455 835 has a Replica Railways motorised chassis, while 456 007 is actually unpowered.

Both videos are straight off my mobile phone but I will try to get some better footage later and string it together into a single, more coherent clip.

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnk2ZNXTrhw?version=3

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6qNcjSBqpI?version=3


If you have been reading my blog entries, then don't bother clicking the video links as they are the same ones I posted in the blog.

[SRman]

After taking many of my photos of trains at the 'west' end of the layout, I decided that the unpainted plastic tunnel mouth deserved a bit of treatment. The result (so far) is this:




A little more work is needed before I find it totally convincing, but it is getting there.

Edited May 2, 2015 by SRman

[DougN]

Looks like you need the landscapers and scenery people in! Not sure when I'm getting back to it the 12" to the ft seems to take about the same time but is a lot heavier!

[SRman]

Latest arrival via eBay is this detailed and weathered Heljan Hymek. I always liked the early blue with small yellow panels and white window surrounds, so when this one came up at a reasonable price, I bid for it and won.

It has had a brass fan and grille added, all of the end pipes and screw coupings put on, and separate etched numerals attached.

It ran absolutely perfectly when tested on DC power, then again after fitting a Lenz Standard+ decoder (which had a side benefit of fitting neatly under the fan housing added by the original modeller).

It was sold as being without couplings, but I knew I could do something about this to make it fully operational for my own use. It has also had the headcode light bulbs removed.

As a temporary measure, I have attached  couple of the Parkside NEM coupling adapters, packed up with a couple of squares of 60 thou plasicard to get the right height. This necessitated bending some of the buffer beam pipes aside slightly, or in one instance at each end, actually trimming the pipes.




Longer term, I have ordered the necessary parts from Howes in Kidlington to restore the lights, replace the early brass wheelsets with later Heljan plated examples, and the sprues with the coupling components to restore the ones attached to the bogies, which will mean removing the Parkside adapters again. I won't bother replacing the marker light/tail light illumination.

My research indicates that the number D7007 chosen by the original owner is inaccurate for this livery with the white window surrounds (it had blue ones, which looked absolutely dire, in my opinion). The research also indicates that I will only have to change one numeral under each cab side window to make an accurate choice for this livery. D7027 or D7047 are suitable candidates, although other numbers may also be easily changed (I have the necessary etched stainless steel numerals, bought some time ago to detail my green Hymek ... one of those 'round tuit' jobs!

[SRman]

New models are suddenly coming into the shops thick and fast! While I haven't ordered all of them, I do have a few pre-orders which are turning up, or about to turn up. The latest is the Realtrack First Great Western class 143. It does have a tenuous connection with the Southern theme in that its destinations are Paignton and Exmouth, the latter of which used to be Southern Railway/Southern Region territory.

 143 618 is seen here posed with 150 219, after having been fitted with a Lenz Standard+ decoder (that was a little tricky, especially as I fitted the plug the wrong way round on the first attempt!).








Still to come in the next month or so are the LBSC E4 from Bachmann, and the BR 0700 from Hornby.

[St Enodoc]

New models are suddenly coming into the shops thick and fast! While I haven't ordered all of them, I do have a few pre-orders which are turning up, or about to turn up. The latest is the Realtrack First Great Western class 143. It does have a tenuous connection with the Southern theme in that its destinations are Paignton and Exmouth, the latter of which used to be Southern Railway/Southern Region territory.

 

 143 618 is seen here posed with 150 219, after having been fitted with a Lenz Standard+ decoder (that was a little tricky, especially as I fitted the plug the wrong way round on the first attempt!).

 

 

 

 

 

Still to come in the next month or so are the LBSC E4 from Bachmann, and the BR 0700 from Hornby.

You're going to need a bigger layout...

[SRman]

Yes, I must get the upper level going! Even then, I would like a bigger layout, but ...

 

[DougN]

No I don't want to make another module..... then again if I took out the Kitchen wall  ...... No must not give SRman ideas.....

 

SRman you must get on with that upper level.... you have too much rolling stock to move otherwise! 

[SRman]

Funny and, alas, true, Doug!

[DougN]

Comment from Ms DougN..... Ms SRman might want to keep her kitchen! It's the only room she is safe from the trains in!

[P.C.M]

I do like that 143 Jeff,

May be one day they will do a class 142 in good old Provincial liv.

 

Cheers Peter.

[Neil_S_Wood]

Yes, I must get the upper level going! Even then, I would like a bigger layout, but ...

 

Wouldn't we all mate.  Nice to see what's been going on.

[SRman]

Further to the entry on the new Realtrack class 143, I found that it didn't like the sections of track with third and fourth rail fitted. I suspected that it was the very low slung 'boxes' containing the axles and gear train, between the wheels dragging slightly on the fourth rail, especially as the whole arrangement is also sprung and can float just a little. The plastic 'caps' for these boxes just clip on and off, so I removed each of them in turn and filed a groove along the centre-line using a round file.

A quick track test proved I was right. The unit can now complete a circuit without assistance from the giant hand from the sky. There is still a small amount of drag at certain points (yup, you guessed it, the points!) but the unit was still able to negotiate these without any assistance. If I widen the groove slightly to allow for the diverging bits of fourth rail within the points the problem will be all but solved. 

Of course, this also means I won't have any such problems when I add third rail to the upper level tracks. Even more incentive for me to get a move on and get the upper level running!

[SRman]

A quick photo showing the modification to the 'boxes' under the class 143.

[SRman]

I have spent a good part of this weekend fiddling with new stock and the layout itself. I have received several new models, in addition to the class 143 mentioned in a recent post. The most challenging one was the new Bachmann First Great Western class 150/1, with the new style chassis and interior lights. This was run-in on DC using the rolling road and worked perfectly, as far as I could tell. The problems began when I went to fit a decoder.

On placing the motor coach on the rollers and switching to the Power Cab programming track, the interior lights and red tail lights came on instantly and stayed on. That was suspicious for a start. The decoder, a Bachmann 36-557 (Soundtraxx) one, programmed fine for the address but when I switched the track to normal DCC mode, the lights remained as before, refusing to respond to the F0 key.

I removed the decoder and placed the coach back on the rollers with no blanking plug and the interior lights and tail lights again came on. I switched to DC power and the red tail lights only came on with one direction's polarity. Very odd!

I dismantled the unit completely and looked at the PCB carefully but could see no obvious problems. I put electrical insulation tape between it and the metal chassis, and ran the same tests with no blanking plug or decoder fitted, with still the same results. At this point I got fed up and emailed Bachmann support to ask for advice, and the original supplier (Amanda Jane Models) to advise that I may have to make a warranty claim. Both replied very promptly (with due regard to the 9 hour time difference between me and the UK): Bachmann support suggesting that I should check pins 21 and 22 or pins 7 and 8 for possible shorts, and Amanda offereing to pay the return post and packing for the model if it did need to be returned, so I would like to compliment the excellent follow up and service from both parties here.

I examined the PCB and the 21-pin carrier board for the cause of the problem with a strong light and my optivisor magnifier. The soldered tracks at the bottom of the carrier board had a small sliver of solder bridging the tracks from pins 21 and 22. Scraping that away with a sharp, fine screwdriver fixed the problem and I was finally able to feel safe in fitting a decoder.

As this unit is intended to run in multiple with my FGW class 150/2 (described in my blog with the Electra vinyl overlays), I thought it would be a bit strange with one unit lit and the other (with old style solid chassis block in the motor vehicle) unlit. My plan had been to see if I could swap with the Collectors Club Silverlink unit, also with older style chassis but fitted with sound. I can report that this is perfectly feasible, with the proviso that the cab interiors have also to be swapped to remain with their originally fitted chassis. 

The two FGW units are now running around on matching old style chassis, while the Silverlink one now has interior lights as well as sound.

Going back one step, while awaiting a response from Bachmann's support, I fitted the new LBSC E4 0-6-2T with its CT Elektronik decoder, which worked perfectly well straight out, but with the high pitched whine I reported from the BR version as originally fitted. I connected the programming track to the computer and JMRI Decoder Pro, put in the settings from 32500's set up and presto, no 579 now behaves more quietly as well.

I have set up three pre-grouping trains to run and took a few photos, although I forgot to hide the Silverlink 150, so that is lurking in the background in a couple of the shots - I cropped one to eliminate all the anachronisms I could.








While fiddling with the layout itself, I have started cutting some Wills planking to form part of the level crossing. I haven't done the bits between the rails yet but I think I'll use more planking but formed into sort of chevron with curved edges to follow the rails - that is, I'll form each bit from two halves cut at an angle to each other, as I think this would look more realistic than having the planks completely straight with their edges following the inner and outer rails. I'll post pictures of this when it is done.

[SRman]

As described earlier (it probably would have been better in the workbench blog!), I swapped chassis and cab interiors around between Bachmann class 150 units, so that the new First Great Western unit now has the old solid block chassis in the motorised coach, while my Silverlink unit now has the new chassis with lights. I also swapped the sound decoder back into the Silverlink unit, with a new 100 ohm speaker installed as I didn't feel like dismantling the old chassis to extract the speaker from under the motor!

The result is that I can run the two First Great Western units in multiple without the oddity of having one with an opaque motor coach and no lights and the other with lights in both coaches.

The FGW units, 150 128 and 150 219 (the one I added the Electra Railway Graphics vinyls to) are seen in the storage loops, so not a great photo, while the Silverlink unit, 150 123, is shown in all its new glory on the tracks below.






Meanwhile, my order for some transfers and etched plates from Modelmaster arrived a couple of days ago. The first candidate for improvement was my Hornby Gresley P2, Cock O' The North, which now sports etched nameplates. I think these are an improvement over the printed ones, and even more so compared to the plastic ones Hornby supplied.




Finally, for this session, I have been adding coal loads (Wagon Essentials drop in loads from Model Railways Direct) to a few wagons and weathering some of them as well. The photos below tell at least some of the story. The Dapol Saxa Salt wagon was already weathered, but any others are ones I have done. All of the bright red ones were particularly lurid to start with. A wash of dark brown and some matt varnish have helped tone them down a bit.

Edited June 3, 2015 by SRman

[SRman]

Just a teensy bit more progress with the level crossing. It is not based on any real level crossing but is a bit of a hash up of several bits and pieces I have seen in photos.

The major parts are Wills wood planking, with a little bit of Wills cobbles leading up to the planking. The one 'tween rails bit I have done has a layer of card under the planking to set it at the right height above the sleepers. I need to put a little packing under the outer bits as well.

[SRman]

Ever since I put in the brickwork for the overbridge at the end of the station loops, I have been aware that if this was real, an engine driver would not be able to see the signal for the through loop. I recently ordered a Berko 2-aspect signal with a right-hand cranked head, and this arrived two days ago. A quick bit of soldering to extend the wires, and a quick swap of wires in the 'chocolate block' terminals connecting the wires to the switch on the control panel has resulted in a signal that can now be seen by my 4mm scale train drivers.




It's the red one on the left under the bridge!

[SRman]

On the weekend just gone, I decided to do something about the too steep drop on the hill in the village. A couple of layers of card tapered to a single layer where it joins the old road surface and the appearance is much better, as well as now allowing the 4mm bus drivers to get down the hill and around the bend without scraping the ends of their buses!

I still need to paint and texture the road surfaces properly and to blend the slight level changes where the different bits of card meet, but it is taking shape and I am much happier with the result now.

[SRman]

I'm still running pre-grouping trains at the moment and have been working on some Smallbrook Studio LSWR 'road van' kits (see my blog for the details). Here I have posed the 18T D.1542 van with a Hornby LSWR M7. The van is all but complete now, after receiving another coat of matt varnish this morning. I have accidentally omitted one door handle on each side, so those remain to be done before I can say it is properly finished.

I also tweaked one of the photos to give it an older feel.

Edited June 29, 2015 by SRman

[SRman]

Two things to show off here ... or really three things in two photos!

One is my new maroon CCT from Invicta Models. I have already painted the ends black to back-date it slightly. I also toned down the wheel faces a little with paint (although you can't see it in this photo!). It is a very nice model but I had a little difficulty ascertaining which of the add-on detail pipes and fittings went where. I eventually found a photo that showed my guesses were correct.




I have also now eliminated the gap under the bridge support girders, using layers of plasticard with recesses built-in to accept and locate the girder ends. The girders are vertical and parallel, in spite of what it looks like in the photo: a combination of the back walls being angled, and the lens distortion towards the edges of the photo make them look quite out of plumb! A quick coat of buff and black paints makes the job look more complete.

I was also going to start on the plate girders above the track level, replacing the temporary, recycled ones I have had Blu-tacked in place so far. However, I haven't found where I put the new girder kits! They aren't in the box I thought they were in, so I'll have to keep looking.

Also showing in the pic are my Bachmann LT pannier tank, which is still crying out for a little weathering, plus two ex-BR brake vans which came from the Bachmann train sets. Both were numbered the same, so I used some Modelmaster transfers to renumber one, before weathering it to provide a contrast to the original.




I really need to renumber two of the three identical low-sided wagons I have  as well. The Modelmaster sheet has quite a few suitable alternatives. Maybe later.

[Gwiwer]

Looking good there Jeff.

 

Those Invicta-commissioned CCTs are lovely little beasts.  I have a maroon pair here and am sorely tempted by more but there's also the upcoming Bachmann SR vans to think about .....