Waverley West, Princes St Gardens and Haymarket MPD

[SWT442]

The layout is really something great and the stock looks so good! It's threads like this that give me the oomph to work on my layout.

 

Regarding your issues with the couplings on the Hornby 56's and 60's, have you thought about ditching the tension locks and using a wire bar? I use this method on both locos with pretty good success.

 

The method I use on the 56 makes it a little more obtrusive than I'd like compared to the 60 but once painted isn't too bad.

 

For the 56, I drill into the sandboxes while on the 60 I drill through the middle of the square "peg" on the valance that slots into the bufferbeam. Wire used is 0.45mm as is the drill bit, with it all secured with superglue. It holds suprisngly well and can have quite a weight hung on them. If interested I could post up a couple of pictures.

 

Andy.

[Waverley West]

The layout is really something great and the stock looks so good! It's threads like this that give me the oomph to work on my layout.

 

Regarding your issues with the couplings on the Hornby 56's and 60's, have you thought about ditching the tension locks and using a wire bar? I use this method on both locos with pretty good success.

 

The method I use on the 56 makes it a little more obtrusive than I'd like compared to the 60 but once painted isn't too bad.

 

For the 56, I drill into the sandboxes while on the 60 I drill through the middle of the square "peg" on the valance that slots into the bufferbeam. Wire used is 0.45mm as is the drill bit, with it all secured with superglue. It holds suprisngly well and can have quite a weight hung on them. If interested I could post up a couple of pictures.

 

Andy.

 

Thanks Andy, yes, I'd like to see some pictures. Sounds interesting. Thanks!

[Waverley West]

The 27s were certainly run into the ground on this service but not many people realise it was the fastest ever between the two cities,  39 minutes from Haymarket to Queen Street non stop or 43 with a stop at Falkirk High.  I think the times from Waverley were 43 and 47 minutes respectively.  When the 47/7s took over, the schedules were lengthened by a few minutes.  Subsequent timetable "improvements" introduced more stops!  This record will finally tumble when the new electric services are introduced.

 

Another little known fact is that 25s and 37s were also used on this service in the early days.  Attached are a couple of Instamatic shots of the same train taken from the temporary platform at the Eastfield Open Day on Saturday 16th September 1972.  Apologies for the quality but I was only 13 at the time.

 

As regards 33s in Scotland, a few years back one could be seen regularly on Motherwell shed.

 

Thanks, like and informative/useful all rolled into one for that post, 65288. Thanks!

[d winpenny]

Superb shots of 56084

 

David

[37403]

Jumping back to a previous post regarding the 3x20s on the mgrs. As I understood it, while the rear loco was used to assist the need for a run round, was there not an issue with stress on the couplings? Im sure I've heard that they were concerned about the drawbar which is why the back 20 was used to "push" to get loaded working on the move.

I might be talking rubbish but it's what I recall

[SouthernBlue80s]

Some more shots of 56084...

 

56084 6 Closeup.jpg

 

56084 6 Closeup BW.jpg

 

I love that top shot. Fantastic :)

[LongRail]

Fantastic series of photographs. With the buildings in the background you have to do a double take to make sure you are not looking at the real thing

[MRDBLUE17]

Hi Dave,

 

Superb photos, great to see the long MGR. The 56 does look good on them too. Thought you might like this shot I got a couple of hours ago at Boness of 20189 and 20205 in immaculate condition. The prototype HST was tucked in behind and 20020 at the other end of the train.

 

Glad you didn't suffer any lasting damage from the rain.

 

All the best

Mark

 

[SWT442]

Thanks Andy, yes, I'd like to see some pictures. Sounds interesting. Thanks!

 

No problem, hopefully the pictures show what I'm trying to describe. The pictures are taken on my phone so not the best.

 

First up is the 56. As I said, the wire is attached through the sandboxes which makes it stand out a bit. I would've liked to have put them through the bufferbeam but they're made of metal and on the couple of occasions I tried I wound up snapping the drill bit. Once painted black and given a bit of weathering it's not too bad. The coal sector 56 has yet to be painted, while the Colas 56 has been painted and weathered.

 

 

 

 

 

The 60 is a bit harder to get a clearer picture of. Basically, the plastic valance has two square pegs that locate into the metal bufferbeam of the loco. Normally, there's a small indent in the back of the square pegs which I use as a guide to drill the holes. I'll then attach the valance to the loco and then produce the wire coupling to suit. It's all secured using superglue. Makes for a neater appearance compared to the 56.

 

 

 

Again, wire used is 0.45mm with the holes being the same size, although you can use a slighty larger or smaller diameter wire to suit.

 

Hope it helps!

 

Andy.

[Matt]

Hi Dave

 

I have come across the same problem but have found a bit filing around the cut out in the chassis where the coupling mechanism swings, particularly the point of the triangle, can cure the trouble. A little filing of the rough edges on the plastic coupling mount is also done whilst in bits. The test once finished is to push the coupling to one side and then the other and it should spring back to the centre once released. Everard Jct recommends removing the spring but I have had no problems with the spring in place and I have modified 8 Class 50s and a 60 of mine plus a couple of others for friends to good effect. I have another couple of 50s waiting to be done I can take some pics to explain more when I get to them?

 

this is exactly what I've done and never had a problem since.  As Ian says, shave some of the metal off the chassis where the close coupling mechanism runs (I used a small file) - particularly around the triangle in the middle of the cam mechanism - what is happening is that the coupling mechanism catches on the triangle in the centre as it tries to move from one side of the cam to the other which occurs on reverse curves particularly when the coupling is under load, but also with bogie wagons at the start of the curve the coupling flips to one side and then tries to move back to the other side as the corner progresses, sticks and causes derailment.  After filing I have cleaned up the area and added a small blob of silicon grease just to help free running and never had the problem since.  I should add that I am doing this with Kadees but sounds like the problem afflicts Kadees and tension locks the same.

 

HTH, M

[P.C.M]

As requested, Peter...

 

Railfreight 26025 on a ballast working

 

26025 3 BW.jpg

 

26025 3.jpg

Hi Dave,

pleased to hear the rain didn't damage the layout.

 

As for that class 26 pic what a stunner great stuff thanks for taking the time to do it. Loved the class 27 on Dundee service too. 

 

A nice Large logo 37 on Mk1s would be nice.

 

Cheers Peter.

[Waverley West]

Hi Dave,

pleased to hear the rain didn't damage the layout.

 

As for that class 26 pic what a stunner great stuff thanks for taking the time to do it. Loved the class 27 on Dundee service too. 

 

A nice Large logo 37 on Mk1s would be nice.

 

Cheers Peter.

 

Cheers Peter, I haven't forgotten your request for 37043!

 

Dave

[Chris64B]

No problem, hopefully the pictures show what I'm trying to describe. The pictures are taken on my phone so not the best.

 

First up is the 56. As I said, the wire is attached through the sandboxes which makes it stand out a bit. I would've liked to have put them through the bufferbeam but they're made of metal and on the couple of occasions I tried I wound up snapping the drill bit. Once painted black and given a bit of weathering it's not too bad. The coal sector 56 has yet to be painted, while the Colas 56 has been painted and weathered.

 

The 60 is a bit harder to get a clearer picture of. Basically, the plastic valance has two square pegs that locate into the metal bufferbeam of the loco. Normally, there's a small indent in the back of the square pegs which I use as a guide to drill the holes. I'll then attach the valance to the loco and then produce the wire coupling to suit. It's all secured using superglue. Makes for a neater appearance compared to the 56.

 

Again, wire used is 0.45mm with the holes being the same size, although you can use a slighty larger or smaller diameter wire to suit.

 

Hope it helps!

 

Andy.

 

I've also done something similar to my new Heljan Class 128 DPU - popping a wire 'loop' behind the detachable buffer beam where there were some convenient recesses. The only difference being I made my wire loop slightly curved to match the original coupler shape and tried to avoid it having any 90deg bends so it could deal with the tighter curves on my layout without getting snagged - quick phone snap below:

 

 

Quite pleased how it turned out - it's very subtle when painted and works fine, apart from sometimes if the DPU is pushing a parcels van around tigher curves/points but with a bit of tweaking this could be improved further I think.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

Edited July 25, 2016 by Chris64B

[SWT442]

I've also done something similar to my new Heljan Class 128 DPU - popping a wire 'loop' behind the detachable buffer beam where there were some convenient recesses. The only difference being I made my wire loop slightly curved to match the original coupler shape and tried to avoid it having any 90deg bends so it could deal with the tighter curves on my layout without getting snagged - quick phone snap below:

 

Quite pleased how it turned out - it's very subtle when painted and works fine, apart from sometimes if the DPU is pushing a parcels van around tigher curves/points but with a bit of tweaking this could be improved further I think.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris

 

Good idea in making it curved Chris, not something I'd ever thought to do!

 

I've got some more locos to fit with wire couplings so might well try one which is more rounded and see if makes a difference.

 

Andy.

[Waverley West]

Thanks, guys, some real food for thought there. Because of the relatively tight curves on WW, my preference is for a bogie-mounted coupling, but I have yet to even come close to working out a way of doing it, so a buffer beam-mounted version it may have to be. 

 

Cheers

Dave

[Chris64B]

Thanks, guys, some real food for thought there. Because of the relatively tight curves on WW, my preference is for a bogie-mounted coupling, but I have yet to even come close to working out a way of doing it, so a buffer beam-mounted version it may have to be. 

 

Cheers

Dave

 

Hiya Dave,

 

I found the trouble with trying to do anything bogie mounted is that it means you can't have much/any buffer beam detail as it just gets in the way as soon as the track curves.

 

My layout has second and (whisper it) first radius curves and the Class 128 DPU with my wire coupling is fine pulling parcels vans round these. When pushing (to come back into the yard/pacels siding) it can get a bit of buffer interlock if the wire goes above or below the van coupling but I may be able to solve this by adjusting the height of the wire coupling on the DPU and/or making it stick out a little bit further.

 

Cheers,

Chris

[Alister_G]

Hi Dave.

 

No posts on here for a couple of weeks? I'm getting withdrawal symptoms.

 

Hope everything is OK.

 

Al.

[Waverley West]

Hi Dave.

 

No posts on here for a couple of weeks? I'm getting withdrawal symptoms.

 

Hope everything is OK.

 

Al.

 

Thanks for your post, Al. Everything is fine here. In fact, life is looking up again for me at the moment, as the illness I have had this year is slowly but surely receding. It's taken 10 months but I am now pretty much pain-free these days. Long may it last! I spoke to a friend in the village this morning and he told me his wife had died last week (cancer). She was only 63. I knew she was ill but I didn't realise just how ill. It really does make you realise you have to make the most of every single day. 

 

I was away on holiday earlier this month and since then life has been a bit too hectic to squeeze in much in the way of RMWeb time, let alone modelling. I have managed to fit in the odd very quick session on the layout though and have been working away on the south-eastern fiddle yard. Five more points to install and the loops will be complete.

 

Looking at the remaining unused board areas, I'm hoping to squeeze in quite a few sidings as well as the loops, which will make the fiddle yard boards even more useful with space for some more rolling stock projects.

 

Here is a shot of the southeastern fiddle yard board in its current state. This board will have 6 through sidings arranged in a loop and will be used to hold trains departing to/arriving from the south and southwest, particularly London KX and NE-SW services.

 

 

A few people have mentioned that it would be good to see the whole layout to get an idea of how it all fits together, so here are a couple of overall shots of the layout...

 

The Waverley West and Princes St. Gardens boards, with the country section in the background on the left:

 

 

...and the West and East Yards of Haymarket depot:

 

 

I believe the Great British Bake-Off starts again tonight, which means the family will be occupied and I will be free to escape to the railway room.      

 

Hope to be back soon with some more updates.

 

 

Cheers

Dave

Edited August 24, 2016 by Waverley West

[Alister_G]

Hi Dave, really great to see a post from you, and glad to hear your health is improving.

 

Al.

[colin penfold]

Good to hear from you Dave. Hope things stay on the up and up

[BoD]

I can't help be impressed by the photos you take with and against the natural light, something I am trying to arrange on my current build. Are you not worried though, that over time it may cause some items to fade.

[Waverley West]

I can't help be impressed by the photos you take with and against the natural light, something I am trying to arrange on my current build. Are you not worried though, that over time it may cause some items to fade.

 

Thanks BoD. I always close the curtains on the windows and the blinds on the Veluxes. There are two old skylights which don't have blinds, but the light from them doesn't really reach the layout, so I haven't found fading a problem so far. Fingers crossed.

[Removed a/c]

Nice to see an overall view of the layout, looks amazing !!! 

 

 

Glad to hear you are on the up health wise too ! You are correct life is too short. 

[keefer]

very good to see you back  dave.

 

Seeing the 'whole' layout really shows testament to your skills - when you do the close-in shots of each area it makes us think 'this layout [i.e. each area] must be HUGE' to convey an accurate impression of the real-life location - however it is the selective compression you use that tricks us into thinking the layout should be much larger. 

I know the total layout is large, but each section is really quite compact.

 

Well done again and good luck for the future.

[MRDBLUE17]

Hi Dave,

 

Glad to hear your doing well. Great to see the layout in full and with these new fiddle yards the operation and variety of trains continues to get more interesting.

 

all the best

Mark