Dock Green

[chaz]

I glued about a quarter of a kilogram of sheet lead into the body shell of the Sulzer. As it seems there is no way I can put a keep-alive capacitor into this loco unless I change the decoder I re-assembled the model  and set up the test rig again.

 

 

With the added weight the loco now lifts about 100gm without slipping, about twice what it managed before. Although this is probably a sufficient improvement for the loads it will pull on Dock Green I must admit that I was disappointed that the improvement wasn't greater. There is still plenty of space in the body for more lead but it is more sensible to test it on Dock Green with typical trains in tow before resorting to yet more ballast.

 

Chaz

Edited December 13, 2013 by chaz

[chaz]

You may be interested in the topic I have just started on my new project - an On30 layout.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79942-the-furness-valley-railroad/

 

As the work on Dock Green is nearly finished, with just a few problems which surfaced at the NEC to resolve, my attention will turn to the FVRR - I'm quite excited by the prospect of something quite different.

 

Chaz

[chaz]

A backstage problem that we had at the NEC....

 

The cassette area at the bottom of the gradient (supposedly the industrial estate) is just big enough for a wagon cassette and the very short special cassette that I made for the Peckett. When the Peckett failed I substituted the J52 saddle tank - the estate, faced with a loco crisis, hired a loco from BR (a not unknown move). However this gave the operators all sorts of problems as it was virtually impossible to remove the cassettes, the J52 being that much longer than the 0-4-0ST.

 

I am in the process of servicing the Peckett (one of my favourite engines) and fitting a keep-alive capacitor, which I hope will make it work as well as all the other motive power. However to avoid a problem if I have to substitute a loco again for this duty I am going to make a couple of cassettes only three wagons long (the others are all four) which will be kept exclusively for estate traffic. This will mean that a loco cassette long enough for an 0-6-0T can be used and my substitute spare loco will be an Ixion Hudswell Clark.

[Metr0Land]

As the work on Dock Green is nearly finished, with just a few problems which surfaced at the NEC to resolve, my attention will turn to the FVRR - I'm quite excited by the prospect of something quite different.

 

Chaz

 

Dock Green has always been a good read - if fate had intervened it may not have been so enticing.  When Ted Willis was writing the first series of what became Dixon, it had the working title 'Dixon of A Division'.  Somehow a model called A Division Sidings wouldn't have had the same charm. 

[Suddaby]

Dock Green has always been a good read - if fate had intervened it may not have been so enticing.  When Ted Willis was writing the first series of what became Dixon, it had the working title 'Dixon of A Division'.  Somehow a model called A Division Sidings wouldn't have had the same charm. 

Given Chaz's exquisite attention to detail, I am sure it would.

Have really enjoyed reading this thread Chaz, and look forward to seeing the layout at an exhibition at some point. Hopefully, you will bring it to the frozen North at some point!

If not, at least make it to Aylesbury for Railex! I hope the Bigcheeseplant is on the case!

 

Kevin

[chaz]

Dock Green has always been a good read - if fate had intervened it may not have been so enticing.  When Ted Willis was writing the first series of what became Dixon, it had the working title 'Dixon of A Division'.  Somehow a model called A Division Sidings wouldn't have had the same charm. 

 

Quite so but....."What's in a name?" I would probably have come up with some other North London sounding name, although come to think of it Dock Green sounds more like East....

Edited December 22, 2013 by chaz

[chaz]

Given Chaz's exquisite attention to detail, I am sure it would.

Have really enjoyed reading this thread Chaz, and look forward to seeing the layout at an exhibition at some point. Hopefully, you will bring it to the frozen North at some point!

If not, at least make it to Aylesbury for Railex! I hope the Bigcheeseplant is on the case!

 

Kevin

 

Thanks Kevin for the comment. Aylesbury is certainly within range, just waiting for an invite, but who is Bigcheeseplant?

 

Would you think Telford too far from Derbyshire? We will be there in September.

 

Incidentally this thread is not quite finished yet. In mid-January I have the opportunity to set the layout up and get some photos and possibly some video. An unexpected offer from one of the operating team makes the necessary space available.

 

I was writing above about two new three-wagon cassettes which I am making for the estate traffic. A plus side to this otherwise tedious job is that it will enable me to take a few more wagons to shows.

 

Chaz

Edited December 22, 2013 by chaz

[Adams442T]

Dock Green has always been a good read - if fate had intervened it may not have been so enticing.  When Ted Willis was writing the first series of what became Dixon, it had the working title 'Dixon of A Division'.  Somehow a model called A Division Sidings wouldn't have had the same charm. 

 

'A' Division was always regarded by the rest of the Met as spending their time chasing Corgis (Buck House) saluting dubious politicians (Houses of Parliament) or as 'door knob shakers' ,what they mostly (allegedly) did on night duty.  I think he was wise to adopt a station name rather than any particular Division, though of course 'H' Division would be better and more appropriate for 'Dock Green'!

[chaz]

Don't even mention "The Blue Lamp".  

[chaz]

I mentioned above that I am making two new cassettes for the estate traffic which will be long enough to carry three wagons each. This means I can introduce a few extra wagons that I previously had no room for. Three oil tankers will go in on one, the other will have either three coal wagons (go down to the estate full, return empty) or a bogie-bolster and a weltrol. Will post some snaps of the stock later (some of the wagons need some TLC before they are fit for the camera - let alone an exhibition).

 

Chaz

Edited December 29, 2013 by chaz

[chaz]

A couple of snaps from the two day photo/video shoot that I was lucky enough to get this last week.

 

 

The two unfitted vans are both from the excellent Parkside range of plastic kits and I think look most convincing in their shabby grey paint.

 

 

Those excellent pipes were given to me by one of my operating team as a quid pro quo after I gave him a stack of unwanted 7mm Peco points from my dismantled home layout. He tells me they were solid when he bought them and he drilled them out before painting. Well worth the effort, as they look really good.

 

More snaps will follow as I find the time to process them. The videos will have to wait as there is rather more work in editing them but I will post 'em when I can.

 

Chaz

[chaz]

This scene stirs memories of Hornby Dublo...

 

D8025, an English Electric Type One (no TOPS codes in 1959) is about to leave the yard, the somersault is off.

 

 

The loco hasn't been in service long, its new paint has some black on the roof around the exhausts and brake dust on the bogies but is otherwise clean. As you probably guessed the model is by Heljan.

 

That baseboard joint looks rather more obvious in a photo than it does in the flesh.

 

 

Look closer and you will see that this brake van is not a BR standard but the earlier LNER vehicle. It was made with the excellent Connoisseur etched brass

kit for a BR van with numerous detail changes to backdate it. Behind can be glimpsed another van from the same kit but this one finished as intended as a BR standard.

 

Chaz

Edited January 10, 2014 by chaz

[chaz]

 

Hornsey must have had a problem with the usual diesel shunter as they have sent an ageing saddle tank on yard pilot duty. 68824 is so grimy there is no trace of the BR emblem. It is sitting on the headshunt with that LNER "Green Arrow" brake van. The retaining wall immediately behind the loco is a screen to hide the cassette area, the sort of ploy that is a necessity on a 7mm layout which is only 16 feet x 2 feet. The inclined track supposedly goes to an industrial estate but in fact leads to cassettes, hidden inside the warehouse (OHHH, that's why it's so big! ).

 

 

A couple of vacuum fitted wagons. The LNER 12T van is from a Parkside kit and the Lowfit is another one of Jim McGeown's excellent Connoisseur etched brass models. I have made up several of his wagon kits and a couple of the locos and found them a pleasure to build, with sensible kit design, accurately fitting parts and that rarity, good instructions.

 

Incidentally, you might think these wagons are poorly placed, fouling a crossover, but in a yard like this with hand thrown points (that's a point lever - just in front of the Lowfit) nobody would worry about it. There's no signalman to annoy!

 

 

The warehouse siding. That group of oil-drums at the far end of the platform is, I think, intended as a wagon load but they fit very nicely into that space. They were another gift from the friend who gave me the pipes and several other bits and pieces of goods. Thanks Dave, excellent stuff, very nicely painted!

 

The van is an ex-LMS vehicle of a type that had an all-steel body. It's another Parkside but is unique on Dock Green - I didn't build it. I bought it from Modeller's Mecca as a RTR item, although I didn't consider it really ready until I had weathered it. By 1959 that steel body would have shown some rust...

 

I damaged the end of the fence with a bit of a clumsiness but one of my operator team persuaded me not to repair it, argueing that it looked authentic. I think he's right.

 

Chaz

Edited January 10, 2014 by chaz

[Barnaby]

 

 

I damaged the end of the fence with a bit of a clumsiness but one of my operator team persuaded me not to repair it, argueing that it looked authentic. I think he's right.

 

Chaz

 

Hello Chaz, exquisite model as I've mentioned before but while accidental damage to a fence can look ok for balance shouldn't there be a little more somewhere else.  My thinking being if the rest of the fence is in such good condition the damaged bit would get rapidly repaired.

Still a very tasty bit of modelling.

 

Regards

[chaz]

Hello Chaz, exquisite model as I've mentioned before but while accidental damage to a fence can look ok for balance shouldn't there be a little more somewhere else.  My thinking being if the rest of the fence is in such good condition the damaged bit would get rapidly repaired.

Still a very tasty bit of modelling.

 

Regards

 

Maybe. Or it could be that it was damaged close to the stop block by something being moved on the platform above the stop block which gave it a swipe? That wouldn't happen further along.

 

Chaz

Edited January 10, 2014 by chaz

[chaz]

 

The platform barrows from Peter Harvey's excellent etches and the crates and boxes make the platform look used. You can see clearly under the canopy in these conditions (low sun streaming through a window) but with only the layout lighting it is rather gloomy in there. Maybe I should put some lamps under the canopy....?

 

 

Of course if I do put some lighting in I will have to put some sort of interior into the office - with lights it will be too obviously empty.

 

Chaz

Edited January 10, 2014 by chaz

[Donw]

I think the damaged bit looks ok. After all fences are always getting damaged and provided it is still reasonably secure wouldn't be repaired straight away.

Don

[chaz]

I think the damaged bit looks ok. After all fences are always getting damaged and provided it is still reasonably secure wouldn't be repaired straight away.

Don

 

I think you are right Don (and the fence still performs its primary function of stopping derailed stock taking the long drop!).

[chaz]

A couple more snaps...

 

 

A goods train arrives, pulled by one of the original GNR batch of Gresley J50s, which were marked out by their shorter length and smaller bunkers, hence the added coal cage to boost the capacity. The three wagons behind 68891 are all ex-GWR, by Peco, WEP and Coopercraft.

 

 

Those wagons in the previous photo have been shunted under the canopy. In the foreground is a BR steel open from a Slater's kit. The design was an LNER one which was perpetuated by BR. The "dimples" in the sides accommodated roping rings.

 

Chaz

[chaz]

A grimy little corner with just the barrow to give it a human scale. Not a place to linger in....

 

 

Up above, on the bridge, it's not a lot more inviting....

 

 

What's missing from PC Dixon's uniform? (I hope Sergeant Flint doesn't see him like this). These photos show just how nicely painted the Omen figures are.

 

 

Do you think that figure with his back to us is RTR?

 

 

I always hoped that the retaining walls and overbridges would divide up the layout into scenes, almost like dioramas. What I've ended up with is areas at each end which are like that, with nothing much moving quite a lot of the time, and a section in the middle where "the action" is.

 

 

I'm having computer problems, editing the videos is proving too much for my laptop. I think I am going to upgrade the memory from 3 to 8GB and replace the HD with a SSD - that should sort it out.

 

Chaz

Edited January 11, 2014 by chaz

[switcher 1]

 

 

Do you think that figure with his back to us is RTR?

Surely not with his hands in his pockets....

 

 

 

editing the videos is proving too much for my laptop

It's mainly processing power that is needed for video editing.

[chaz]

Surely not with his hands in his pockets....

 

 

 

It's mainly processing power that is needed for video editing.

 

 

It's mainly processing power that is needed for video editing.  

 

OK. So what does one do to improve matters? - I would be prepared to buy a new laptop, but will have nothing to do with Windows 8. My wife's laptop runs 8 and she hates it as much as I do.

 

Chaz

[keefr2]

My son was looking for a new laptop just before Christmas, & looking for one not pre-loaded with W8 now appears to be like looking for the proverbial hens dentures (although now he's used to W8 he loves it!) However, there was a similar post to yours on Geoff Fosters 'Rails to llangunlo' blog. When Geoff bemoaned how much he hated W8 on his new laptop, this was posted;

 

"Geoff, a little program called "Start8" is your friend..

 

When I had to upgrade to a W8 laptop it was the first thing that IT friends advised me to install, and it was the first thing that I did. Basically it makes W8 look like Vista/W7, but you still have the potential to use the W8 mode and all the advantages under the skin like *much* faster search."

 

Geoff responded with

 

"I think I have got on top of things, by installing 'Start8' I now have the old style Win.7 and Vista start menu. I found out how to disable the annoying swipe function and reset my mouse wheel to give smoother scrolling. "

 

So maybe that's the answer if you have to have W8 foisted on you...?

 

keith

[chaz]

My son was looking for a new laptop just before Christmas, & looking for one not pre-loaded with W8 now appears to be like looking for the proverbial hens dentures (although now he's used to W8 he loves it!) However, there was a similar post to yours on Geoff Fosters 'Rails to llangunlo' blog. When Geoff bemoaned how much he hated W8 on his new laptop, this was posted;

 

"Geoff, a little program called "Start8" is your friend..

 

When I had to upgrade to a W8 laptop it was the first thing that IT friends advised me to install, and it was the first thing that I did. Basically it makes W8 look like Vista/W7, but you still have the potential to use the W8 mode and all the advantages under the skin like *much* faster search."

 

Geoff responded with

 

"I think I have got on top of things, by installing 'Start8' I now have the old style Win.7 and Vista start menu. I found out how to disable the annoying swipe function and reset my mouse wheel to give smoother scrolling. "

 

So maybe that's the answer if you have to have W8 foisted on you...?

 

keith

 

Thanks for the advice Keith. If I have to replace I will certainly investigate 'Start8' and I will certainly tell Sue about it.

Edited January 11, 2014 by chaz

[chaz]

When my youngest son went to University, he bought an Apple Macbook Pro (I think... Certainly an Apple Mac Laptop.).  He needed the processing power for editing audio and video files.  He said that PCs would be cr#p for what he needed to do. I never heard him complain about it.  Not a cheap option though I believe.

 

Yes, Paul. One of my operating team used to do a lot of video editing and he uses Macs for that reason. I'm not sure it would make sense for me as I don't have that much video to edit but I will look at the range.

 

Chaz