SRman's Current Layout - Newton Broadway

[SRman]

Now all but complete, the Hudswell Clarke, No.70 'Beatrice', is ready for service. The first photo shows it still in a gloss finish (better for sticking transfers to!), and the second shows it after a coat of satin varnish. It now just needs a little weathering to tone it all down a bit.

 

 

[SRman]

Now, getting away from building or kit-bashing rolling stock, I did some more fiddling, this time on a job on the layout I have been wanting to do for a while. Having cleared the clutter from the floor (well, some of it anyway!), I can now more easily get behind the layout at that end. I have removed the underlay from the Engineers' siding beside the engine shed, which involved pulling up the bullhead track and buffer stop, and scraping most of the sticky residue off the boards then relaying that bit of track. Reason? Because the wagons were tending to roll down towards the points. Modern models are too free running!! The "dead" man in one of the photos was knocked off his perch on top of the sheds - he was restored to his rightful position in the last photo.

All of this involved much swearing! 🙄

While I was round there, I noticed that the state of the track was appalling and it's a wonder anything ran round there at all. Rail tops easily cleaned up and looking nice and shiny again.

There is still much scenic work to be done around this area.
 

 

 

 

[SRman]

I bought a small magnetic whiteboard with the idea of using it to keep track of what locos and units are stored in the engine shed area, especially the ones I can't see to read the numbers. I have drawn a rough outline of the tracks in red paint marker, and can use whiteboard markers to write the numbers in. This one is a bit rough, but I can redo it more neatly later if it works out for me. Also, the whiteboard is double sided so if I mess one side up completely, I can use the other.

 

[St Enodoc]

27 minutes ago, SRman said:

I bought a small magnetic whiteboard with the idea of using it to keep track of what locos and units are stored in the engine shed area, especially the ones I can't see to read the numbers. I have drawn a rough outline of the tracks in red paint marker, and can use whiteboard markers to write the numbers in. This one is a bit rough, but I can redo it more neatly later if it works out for me. Also, the whiteboard is double sided so if I mess one side up completely, I can use the other.

 

Jeff, if it's a magnetic whiteboard, why not make up a magnetic tag for each loco/unit that you can move around on the board rather than having to erase and rewrite every time?

[SRman]

8 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

Jeff, if it's a magnetic whiteboard, why not make up a magnetic tag for each loco/unit that you can move around on the board rather than having to erase and rewrite every time?

 

I have actually been thinking along those lines for the future, but because I have so many locos and units, it could become unwieldy. If I could do the same basic idea but write the numbers on the magnetic strips it would be less difficult to manage, but the strips then need to be like a miniature whiteboard themselves. Still, this is by no means the final solution for my partly hidden storage areas.

 

Edited February 25, 2023 by SRman

[DougN]

You could collect all those "need a plumber/ electrican" magnets that seem to be breeding on my fridge... just put a new sticky white label on them. Do your favorite locos first and the others can be writen on....

 

Ok Ill go back to my Hornby A4 fixing....  

 

 

[SRman]

On 25/02/2023 at 16:56, DougN said:

You could collect all those "need a plumber/ electrican" magnets that seem to be breeding on my fridge... just put a new sticky white label on them. Do your favorite locos first and the others can be writen on....

 

Ok Ill go back to my Hornby A4 fixing....  

 

 

 

I had actually thought something along those lines, but I want to have erasable surfaces on the 'tags', so they would be like miniature, moveable whiteboards. Yeah, those fridge magnets are very easy to come by - I have thrown out so many real estate agents' ones.

p.s. Kindly do not mention the word "plumber"! 😛

[SRman]

The Rapido Hunslet now has a crew fitted, with the fireman leaning on his shovel, and both driver and fireman bathed in the flickering glow from the open firebox. I pulled the roof off the cab to make fitting the crew easier - it was only lightly glued in place. The next job is to put a little real coal in the bunker.

 

[SRman]

A recent project involved reverting eight old Hornby ECC CDA china clay hoppers to HAA coal hoppers. The reason for this was demonstrated in an earlier post of mine (see photo below repeated for ease of reference) showing the new Accurascale CDAs that I bought sitting with the Hornby version in the same train - they didn't match at all well. Attempts to sell the Hornby CDAs failed, so that left me with the problem of what to do with them. I had already fitted metal wheel sets into them a while back for better running.

 

 

The answer was to reuse them in a form that could be run without direct comparison with the Accurascale wagons, so the easiest course of action was to remove the clip-on CDA tops and the glued-in vents at each end, and convert them back to HAA wagons. Some thin, 5 thou plastic sheet was used to patch the end holes left by the removal of the parts. I did lose some of the cross bars in the end framing, but I can replace those with some plastic bars later; they aren't too obvious when in service.

I used some graffiti remover from Bunnings which has been proved safe on plastics and most painted surfaces, to remove the ECC logos although it did remove some silver paint on some of the older wagons - not really a problem as I was repainting parts of them anyway to blend the patches in, and they will be weathered in due course. 

I repainted some of the framing in a bright red similar to Railfreight red, but left three still in ECC blue, thinking that they aren't too far off the Mainline blue. I think I will have to do a quick brush over with a darker blue though, as they do show up as being too light a colour. I have to put some new insignia and markings on all of them, before varnishing and weathering them. These are candidates for the first use of my airbrush as I think I can weather them as a bulk lot.

I decided to supplement them by buying two of Hornby's more recent 3-packs of HAAs in Railfreight red, bought at a reasonable price, so here are a few photos showing the whole rake being hauled by a Heljan EW&S class 58. The new wagons are better than the old ones in several ways, but at least are not obviously different when mixed together. The old-style large couplings are a bit of a giveaway for identifying the older wagons. Also, I tend to use a lump of Blu-tack on each of the swivelling axle carriers on the older wagons to stop them turning while still allowing a little resilience. The new wagons have fixed axles and the much smaller couplings.

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by SRman
Altering the reference

[SRman]

A class 74 electro-diesel kit and 4 COR conversion kit arrived from Silver Fox yesterday.

Starting on the 74, it is a very nice casting, but I have been grinding lots of resin material out of the 74 body shell to get it to fit over the Hornby 71 chassis, removing material from the lower cab ends and from inside the roof. The kit was designed to fit the Hornby class 90 chassis and the instructions reflect this, but I wanted to use the superior Hornby class 71 as its basis. It looks very promising. I will be shaving off the handrails and moulded jumper cables and horns to replace them all with separate fittings, in due course. It can only be one livery for realism: BR blue with yellow ends, although it can have E 61XX numbers or 74 0XX TOPS numbers. I had to use a little Milliput to patch up where I slipped with the Dremel! The kit comes with some rather nice bogie side frame mouldings, but I am in two minds as to whether to replace the Hornby side frames or adapt them.

I want to fit legomanbiffo sound eventually. I think I can get a sugar cube speaker in the space vacated by the Hornby internal machinery mouldings, but it will still need a micro decoder - the existing one is an ESU LokPilot micro.

 

 

 

 

 

[SRman]

An update on the class 74.

I have shaved off the moulded details, and also reshaped the front panels a bit, although they are still a bit flatter than the Hornby front end. I did saw off one cab from the Hornby 71 body and one from the 74, but the roof profiles were a bit too different to match up, so I had to regraft the original cab back on. 

The BR blue I had was going off, so I am not at all happy with the finish on the blue, and have been sanding parts of it back ready for repainting. I may try to use the Hornby glazing, but due to the flatter curve of the front, I'll have to fit each window separately. The kit glazing is vacuum-formed and will be kept in reserve if that fails. I also hope to reuse the Hornby cab interiors with their lighting, but they will need to be cut down a little to fit inside the thicker mouldings.

The current status is that the chassis has a LokSound 5 micro fitted with a sugar cube speaker and legomanbiffo sounds added. The chassis runs fine, so even with the unfinished body on it, it can run on Newton Broadway. The body is a tight fit on the Hornby chassis, which is good, but I had to remove a lot of material from the insides of the roof to clear some of the Hornby PCB components. 

I have some Dapol class 73 jumper and air cables to use, and also some nice white metal ones from (I think) MJT. I also shaved off the moulded horns from the cab roofs, with a view to using some turned brass ones I have.

Progress has slowed a bit, but it is a success so far. One other major job to do is to remove the Hornby side frames and graft the Silver Fox ones onto the bogie frames, as they are quite different. The last two photos show it as it is at the time of this post.

 

 

 

 

 

[SRman]

Thanks to Gwiwer of this parish, I have now got my Heljan FGW class 57 running again. Gaugemaster didn't have the designated top bogie clips for the class 47/57 in stock, but my preliminary comparisons with a class 58 showed the clips appeared to be the same, and so I ordered some of the class 58 ones that were in stock. On reassembling the bogies, the class 58 clips proved to be identical to the damaged ones and the loco has been happily trundling around Newton Broadway for a while now, after a major wheel-cleaning exercise (it still has the original horrible brass wheels!).

I found that the tail lights at one end aren't working, but that's no bad thing really as I can make sure that end is at the train end of the loco when hauling stock. I'll check the wires and plugs at some stage, but it really isn't much of an issue.




There has also been some progress on the Silver Fox class 74, with the paintwork getting better (but nowhere near perfect!), and a bit of super-detailing in the form of some grill mesh applied to the roof grilles on either side of the main radiator fan, and the exhaust port. The upper two photos of this look a little odd because there was still water on the body after washing it to get rid of the swarf from the drilling out of the grill apertures.

 

 

 

[SRman]

 

Well, I've gone and bought another Dapol class 73, unfortunately one of the early batch with design faults on the PCB. This one was at a very good price from Hatton's second-hand section, in GBRf livery as 73 206 'Lisa', with one buffer missing, one horn missing, and one coupling missing. The latter was the easiest of all to fix as the NEM pocket was intact! I have the parts to remedy the other faults later, so all in all, I think I've done OK. The running qualities on test on DC were perfect, so a decoder was fitted and tested, also fine.

 

For the PCB lighting problems and reverse headlight directions on DCC, I reprogrammed the Zimo MX634D decoder I fitted (initially set to MX634C but programming a value of 4 into CV8 switches that), then using JMRI Decoder Pro, swapped the ticks in the checkboxes for the headlights on F0f and F0r (for forwards and reverse), also adding 1 to the value in CV29 so the radiator end becomes the forward end, following the convention for all my other class 73s.
 

Fixing the permanently on cab lights I used the technique posted somewhere on the Internet that I had saved and used on E6007 which had the same (factory designed) faults.

 

Using the photo downloaded at the time (sorry, I don't have a link or address for it), with the decoder connection to the left of the chassis, and the solder pads just to the left at the bases of the decoder pins on the PCB, the two we needed were third and fourth from the bottom. Then:

• cut PCB track to R1,
• cut track between R1 and R2,
• add wire from aux 1 on decoder socket to R1 resistor,
• add wire from aux 2 on decoder socket to R2 resistor.

 

Result, I now have the cab lights independently controlled through F1 and F2. If these don't work at the expected ends (mine didn't!), JMRI comes to the rescue again, using the Function checkboxes again, swap F1 and F2's outputs. I wanted F1 to logically work the No. 1 cab end, and F2 to work No. 2 cab.

This locomotive is destined to be renumbered and renamed using transfers from Railtec (excellent service, by the way), to become 73 212 'Fiona'.

I'll do another post shortly with a photo of the internal mods, as I just noted that I need to blacken the side edges of the PCB to make it less obtrusive in the windows. Fortunately, the body comes off very easily.

 

 

[SRman]

Here's the photo of the PCB with the new wires. The tracks were cut with a small drill.

 

 

The first two photos below show the headlight and headcode lighting, and the light grey bits behind the main grill having been painted out, but the bit behind the window showing the original colour. The lower photo shows the cab light a the No. 1 end lit up on F1. The headlight and headcode light are on F0 and are directional (corrected using JMRI on a computer as mentioned in my previous post).

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2023 by SRman

[SRman]

One more entry for luck: a friend put me onto this Grafitti Remover which is kind to plastics, including glazing. It works on removing printed numbers and names, as in this case with 73 206. there is still a slight shadow there, but I can live with that, as the new numbers will mostly obscure that, and the nameplates will cover completely where the old ones were. The new name and number is visible on the lower left.

A very light weathering later on should fix the problem.

[St Enodoc]

51 minutes ago, SRman said:

One more entry for luck: a friend put me onto this Grafitti Remover which is kind to plastics, including glazing. It works on removing printed numbers and names, as in this case with 73 206. there is still a slight shadow there, but I can live with that, as the new numbers will mostly obscure that, and the nameplates will cover completely where the old ones were. The new name and number is visible on the lower left.

A very light weathering later on should fix the problem.

That looks like good stuff - where do they sell it?

[SRman]

59 minutes ago, St Enodoc said:

That looks like good stuff - where do they sell it?

 

Bunnings.

It is water soluble, so my friend said he dilutes it a bit when he uses it, but I used it neat on a cotton bud. You leave it for a few minutes then start rubbing the transfers/printing off. I rubbed a little too vigorously on the second side and took a small amount of the blue paint off as well.

[SRman]

GBRf 73 212 has had a little further work done, with the missing buffer now restored and the horns at one end replaced with some white metal cast horns. I also used some polish on the sides to even the paint up a bit where I had removed previous numbers and names. I also realised that the Pullman gangway buffers are absent, so Ill have to find a pair of those from my spares boxes and drawers.

 

 

For my Dapol class 59, I wanted some suitable wagons, but the Dapol JHAs have been a little on the dear side to buy a whole rake at once ... until last week. Modellbahn Union shop in Germany had several of the Dapol JHAs in variations on Yeoman livery available for 20 Euros each, so I jumped in and bought six wagons, although there were more end wagons than centre ones available, so I took a leaf out of SR policy and made up two sets of three to order. The end wagons have working flashing lamps and DCC sockets, but the price was the same, regardless. Minus VAT but adding 45 Euros post & packing, I still ended up with quite a bargain.

I have already modified and added details on some of the wagons. The buffers pull out easily so two of the four end wagons are now pseudo-centre wagons, with Kadee #17 couplings replacing the tension locks, albeit at the lower standard NEM height rather than the buffer beam/headstock height Dapol have used for the internal set couplings. One other end wagon has retained its tension lock at the outer end to couple up to locomotives, but I may replace that later as there is only one locomotive destined to haul these wagons, Dapol's 59 206.

 

The wagon which will be the dedicated tail-end wagon has retained its lamp, but all the others have had the lamps removed and the lamp irons provided in the extra bits fitted. Again, only the tail-end wagon has had the air pipes and screw couplings added, and it's tension lock removed altogether and not replaced with anything. I may ft pipes to the other wagons later, but these might have to be cut down to allow for coupling swing. At a later stage I can disguise the converted end wagons further with a little plastic sheet on the end buffer beams to hide the holes left by the removal of their buffers and also the centre slot for the screw coupling and hook.

 

I can't pose them with 59 206 at present because that is currently at DougN's house (not at all far away from me), due to me suffering a medical episode at the monthly BRMA meeting on Saturday, and departing in the back of an ambulance. Doug and our other friend Rob took my trains home for me - we had car pooled so Rob was driving. The episode was essentially caused by a new medication working in tandem with my normal medication and dropping my blood pressure too far, but I am fine now - the hospital let me go home later that same evening. The hospital visit was further complicated by a false positive on a RAT test for covid: everyone treating me had to put full PPE gear on for their own safety, but a later PCR test proved negative.

[SRman]

I posed the JHA wagons with my old Lima/Hornby hybrid class 59 this morning. The model has an original Lima body, modified with lights at one end only, plus etched plates, fitted to a more modern Hornby chassis with 5-pole motor bogie. While much smoother than the original chassis, it is very light-footed, but fortunately the Dapol wagons are very free rolling. 

The Kadee #17s fitted between the two converted end wagons in the middle of the rake seem to create exactly the right gap to match the Dapol standard spacing. Unless you know what you are looking for, they can pass by without being obvious at all.

 

[SRman]

Just a small amount of detailing work done today. One of my Accurascale class 92s has had some of the printed blinds added and a driver at each end - whichever end is leading, the other driver is just being a passenger, or maybe a guard. I colour the edges and backs of the blinds with a black marker or paint pen before gluing them in place with some Glu 'N' Glaze (PVA would be just as good).

I should have turned the headlights off at the trailing end for the photo - the cab lights are set to be directional but are separate to the headlights.

92 032.

 

 

 

[SRman]

I sat down this morning (a Friday) and set up the soldering iron to allow me to do some delicate work, soldering the wires of a Zimo MS480 sound decoder to an 8-pin plug to get my London Transport 57XX pannier going again; it has been sitting languishing on my workbench for about a year awaiting solutions for the installation. I had intended fitting an iPhone speaker in the bunker, losing the metal weight and cab back plate in the process, and even got as far as making a new plastic back for the cab to hide the speaker. Also in the plans were fitting some working lamps and a firebox glow, but it is all so cramped I have just fitted the decoder and put a YouChoos sugar cube speaker in the cab space, which is really obvious from outside. I cut off the spigots under the pcb/decoder socket to lower that assembly somewhat, but it is still tight. 

The decoder came from Buckambool Models in NSW, loaded with the YouChoos sound.

Anyway, it does work and actually sounds quite good. I put together a very short video clip, posted on YouTube.
 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by SRman

[SRman]

I decided this morning to redo the wiring in the LT pannier to make more room and see if I could get the speaker inside the boiler. It worked!

I hard-wired the decoder, and sat it on its side vertically beside the speaker, ahead of the motor, and they both just fitted into the boiler between the tanks so the body could slide on. the decoder (Zimo MS480) was just narrow enough to allow the body to sit down properly on the chassis. I drilled out the weight under the chimney to allow sound to come from where it should and then I fitted a Hatton's 3D printed crew in the now empty cab.

 

 

 

[SRman]

And freshly arrived today (Sunday) are my two Accurascale Siphon G vans. I ordered a maroon one for the late 1950s to 1960s trains, and the TOPS coded blue one for the 1970s onwards. However, the blue one doesn't seem to have the TOPS code on it (not in any obvious places, anyway), so I can safely get away with mixing that and the maroon one into a late 1960s early 1970s train if I want.

The LT pannier was still doing laps of my upper level when I wanted to photograph the Siphons, so this is not intended to be a prototypical train.

 

 

[Gwiwer]

Those Siphon Gs are the business. Two maroon ones arrived here midweek and four blue ones are on their way from Camborne. 
 

Superb models, a good weight, free-running and with flex in the gangways not rigid plastic. An included magnetic close-coupler option too. 
 

Top marks. 

[St Enodoc]

2 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Top marks.

Yes but top price too.