A 'Quickie' out of doors - now Palin's Yard

[Simond]

Peter,

 

I think you should ask for a refund, those fingertips will melt when you use the soldering iron!

 

Get well soon!

Best

Simon

[pauliebanger]

Peter,

 

I think you should ask for a refund, those fingertips will melt when you use the soldering iron!

 

Get well soon!

Best

Simon

 

Simon,

 

Which end of the soldering iron do you customarilly hold onto?

 

Paul

[3 link]

Simon,

 

Which end of the soldering iron do you customarilly hold onto?

 

Paul

Just switch it on, most folk only need the one lesson on which end to hold. : )

 

Martyn.

[peter220950]

Well 2 months on the hand is more or less back to normal, but that has brought it's own problems, now it works properly I have been catching up on loads of jobs around the house that needed doing. The garage has been tidied up a bit and the front overhang has been re-clad, not productive in modelling terms but it all helps with brownie points from the domestic authorities.

 

 

There's also the small matter of a new shed, which isn't completely railway related, but will provide a better workshop and warm, dry secure layout storage, when built.

 

 

Other distractions have been the start of another layout, a Cameo which has also involved a load more work on the tram project, and some semi-industrial scale casting for cladding an O gauge viaduct for a colleague, this is about 1/4 of the total needed.

 

 

All of which is my way of excusing a total lack of progress on the layout, it was put away after the Taunton outing and hadn't been put up again until Thursday, when it hosted a friend's 08 to test out a glitch it seemed to be having on his layout.

 

 

After a quick clean of the track it all ran smoothly for a couple of hours, and reminded me of lots of little jobs that needed doing, but not much more than that, however Thursday night saw a request to take the layout to The Great Electric Train Show at Gaydon, to sit on our Club stand, so given two holidays between now and then, and the on going shed construction, it looks like I have to pull my finger out.

 

So hopefully there will be a bit more action over the next few weeks, the tippler needs a hopper fitting, I need to get some stock up and running, and the layout needs a load of detailing to bring it to life. That is if I can leave the tram and Stourbridge Town layout alone.

 

Peter

Edited July 14, 2017 by peter220950

[peter220950]

Wow, where did the last 10 weeks go? A couple of holidays, visits to see the family, Telford, the Stourbridge Cameo, and building a new man cave/shed seem to have eaten up the weeks. The time I had to get the layout ready for The Great Electric Train Show at Gaydon seems to have passed by with little visible progress and I'm now into panic mode with only 2 weeks to go, so time for a bit of an update.

 

After the first outing to SWAG Taunton I made a list of things that needed attention, and to be fair there's not a huge amount to address to get it ready for another outing.

 

It has to be borne on mind that the layout is going to be on our Club Stand, so I feel a bit less pressure than a ‘proper' Exhibition appearance, it's still going to be a work in progress, I just need to make sure it works. The detailing work, which makes all the difference but takes a lot of time, will just continue, and be wherever it is when the Show comes along.

 

So of the essential things that needed doing a couple have already been addressed in the last couple of days. I was only too aware that two loco's was a bit tight for safety so dealt with that issue first. The Minerva Peckett has finally had an annoying clunk sorted out, thanks to Chris Klein, and now runs sweetly, providing the first steam loco for the layout.

 

In addition an old Charles Covey kit of a Y8ish inspired industrial has been re-wheeled, as the kit wheels were aluminium rims on nylon centres that didn't work very well. New Slaters wheels were purchased at Telford, and the loco has been chipped, along with the hacked about Atlas diesel, so we are already up to 5 loco's, with a couple more awaiting chips that should see an adequate supply of motive power with capacity to cover breakdowns.

 

 

Next step is to fit a suitable selection of stock with Sprat & Winkle couplings, it shouldn't need much, half a dozen vans and some open coal wagons for the tippler together with a couple of odd things like Conflats should suffice, and most are built and painted.

 

Today I actually managed to get the turntable board out and work on a couple of other issues, the turntable itself was binding a bit at Taunton so a morning spent filing rail and sanding the edges seems to have ticked one item off the remedial list. The track power indicator light was also mended, to ensure the pivot is transmitting current.

 

 

After a bit of thinking about operation I decided that a further road on the turntable would be useful, so added a further track, if successful there is room for a third, to provide storage for another rake of wagons.

 

 

 

Some time was also spent digging out detailing bits for the board, a stillage for oil drums has been fabricated, some bits of general debris, and a labourer to sweep up and look after the oil and coal depot, have been sorted out, and will be painted and added over the next few days.

 

 

A pair of oxy-acetylene cylinders were dug out, and a BR mk1 window frame was cut down to make a trolley, the cylinders need a proper paint, but it seems to work as an believable bit of detailing.

 

 

 

 

A further problem at this end of the layout was the 40mm shortage of sky, which I temporary sorted with a strip of offcut, but it wasn't ideal. A section of resin walling was cut down and provides a boundary wall that covers the area.

 

 

 

 

The next item to address is moving the control switch for the tippler round to the front of the layout, which again highlights the disadvantage of using flush doors. Having spent a lot of time taking the wiring from the front of the layout over the gantry, to the rear of the layout I now need to get it back, but all of the landscaping is now complete, so a bit of head scratching is needed. First I need to procure some 6 strand cable, which could well see another run back across the gantry. Then I have to decide where to put the switch, the lesson learned is to use baseboards with access below.

 

So what's next? The main factory board is next up for a review, I know I need to address the joint in the sky where the mirror at the end of the road meets the sky, I was going to try to blend the sky in with an airbrush, but now think it may be hidden with the addition of a building or chimney. A small canopy needs to be added to the loading deck and a similar operation to identify clutter and people to populate the layout has to be undertaken.

 

Having made the first concrete moves this week the impetus has been re-started to get the layout progressed, so I'm hopeful that it should be in good shape for the first week in October, and look forward to seeing any RMWebbers who might be passing by, come and say hello.

 

Peter

[peter220950]

I spent the early part of last week looking at the factory board, in an attempt to resolve the mirror issue. Here's the problem, I didn't fully think through the mirror at the end of the road, in an ideal world it would have been wider, but it's too late to worry about it now.

 

 

 

And my idea of putting a wall over the joint won't work either, as from certain angles you would see behind, and realise it was only a thin plastic sheet.

 

 

A second chimney seems to be the only option, and a quick mock-up seemed to fit the bill, along with a further factory wall to give it some context.

 

 

The other discovery I made in digging out the layout, was that the back scene has wrinkled. It was never very satisfactory, but was clearly now in need of a new solution. I therefore ordered the same back scene, but this time the Premier version in self adhesive vinyl, so yet another task to complete.

 

 

The wall and chimney have been progressed, with some paint and detailing to get it somewhere near ready.

 

 

Finally problems of operating the tippler from the front have been resolved.

 

Here's the problem, there's not a lot of room at the back to get a cable from the existing switch to the rear of the layout.

 

In the end I chose to fit a socket on top of the track feed socket, six holes were drilled to take the pins and the socket was glued on, wires were then passed under the track to the switch and soldered onto the existing switch contacts.

 

 

A new switch was fitted to an old sweetener container, and wired to a wander lead, to allow the operator to move anywhere on a 2m radius of the new socket, so another job gets ticked off the list.

 

 

Stock to operate the layout has been cobbled together, and some just needs automatic couplings fitted, some people have been gathered ready to prime and paint. Finally a start has been made on colouring up the vermiculite to use instead of coal, and a tray has been started to collect the material when tipped.

 

 

 

Away again last weekend, so it's now only 4 days until set up, but I stand a chance of getting most of the bits ready. A further days delay in the schedule to go and visit Westonbirt Arboretum with the grandchildren will further hit my programme, leaving only Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning to get things done, but it is my grandsons first birthday, and that's more important than playing trains!

 

And I do get cake, looks like what minimal modelling skills I possess may have passed on to my daughter.

 

 

Peter

[leopardml2341]

Looking forward to seeing this, the layout - not the cake, but wait......

I'll pop by and say hello on Sunday, if you don't look too frazzled.

 

Hope you get everything done that you need to and best wishes for the show.

Edited October 3, 2017 by leopardml2341

[peter220950]

The last few days before Gaydon were spent putting a few detail bits into the layout, fitting auto-couplings, and trying took sort the back scenes. I fitted the new vinyl ID backscenes, then found I was one piece short, so had ordered a new set that duly arrived, except that it was on paper, I had ordered the wrong one. I re-ordered in the hope that it might arrive in time, but it finally got there on Saturday. In the interim I put a piece of the paper one on for the Exhibition. It was interesting to note that on one board the vinyl has still bubbled, so I will have another go at that when I correct the end board.

 

As a last minute job on the Friday before Gaydon I thought it might be a good idea to throw a bit of weathering powder at the loco's to take the shine off them, little realising the dire consequences that would result.

 

Friday set up went well, and apart from discovering a defective kettle lead to the lighting transformer there were no real issues, except that the Peckett refused to do anything, I took it home to clean the wheels and pick-ups, as it looked like the weathering powder was causing the problem.

 

 

 

Overall the layout incorporated well into the Club Stand, and the use of an additional 4 halogen lights on the stand proved my thoughts that I needed a bit of warm white to soften the lighting rig a bit.

 

A check on Saturday showed that the Peckett was still out of service, and the first hour reduced the rolling stock substantially, as I hadn't really tested it out. The layout otherwise ran pretty well, using two Fowlers, with only the occasional doubt that there might be a failure to respond to a command. It was only at about half past three that I realised that the rear track from the turntable had no power on one board, the keep alives had run the locos across the board all day without our noticing, that problem was solved in two minutes on the Sunday morning, otherwise it all ran well both days.

 

 

The real disaster struck on Saturday morning, with a mate to help run the layout I turned my attention to the Peckett, I took it to bits yet again and finally got it stuttering back to life, not quite sure now of how, but I then managed to drive it off the newly added extra track on the turntable, 3ft onto the floor. Needless to say it killed it.

 

Sunday things went well until mid morning when the ABS Fowler died, I took it apart but couldn't see if it was the motor that had died or the motor drive from the chip, sounds still worked, but it needs further investigation.

 

This left us down to one loco, not an ideal situation, so took the Peckett out of its box and had a look. The valve gear on both sides was squashed into the wheels, so it was gently prised off and lo and behold it kicked back into life. Apart from a cracked rear step, a slightly bent buffer, and a cabside strip falling off, it was fine. It carried on for the rest of Sunday without a murmur, pretty impressive considering the fall it took.

 

 

 

So overall a good weekend, a lot of lessons learned, the layout ran well and I now know I have to sort stock and running sequences, but the basics seem to be right, there were times when it got quite busy, and I have 2 Exhibition invites and a third possible, so someone must have liked it!

 

 

 

 

Peter

[81A Oldoak]

Sounds like a serious case of Peckett abuse. I may have to send someone round.

[peter220950]

Guilty as charged, it was 'that' Peckett you helped me out with the other day, and seems jinxed.

 

On Saturday night I had decided I would have to get a new one, but like Lazarus it rose from the dead and ran sweetly all Sunday.

 

Seriously impressed by the fact that it sustained so little damage from a straight 3ft drop, it has now redeemed itself and will get some TLC.

 

 

 

As for the Fowler, it just goes on and on like a Duracell bunny. Fortunately the stable will soon be increased by a freelance centre cab that's due to be painted next,

 

 

and the collection of spares can go to a further Fowler, a centre cab like Monty, to get me up to a safe number of loco's to operate the layout with.

 

When's the next 0-4-0????

 

Peter

[81A Oldoak]

Guilty as charged, it was 'that' Peckett you helped me out with the other day, and seems jinxed.

 

On Saturday night I had decided I would have to get a new one, but like Lazarus it rose from the dead and ran sweetly all Sunday.

 

Seriously impressed by the fact that it sustained so little damage from a straight 3ft drop, it has now redeemed itself and will get some TLC.

 

 

 

As for the Fowler, it just goes on and on like a Duracell bunny. Fortunately the stable will soon be increased by a freelance centre cab that's due to be painted next,

 

20171010_085059.jpg

 

and the collection of spares can go to a further Fowler, a centre cab like Monty, to get me up to a safe number of loco's to operate the layout with.

 

When's the next 0-4-0????

 

Peter

Peter,I

 look forward to seeing the conversion painted. As for the next loco, I'm afraid it's wait and see.

 

Regards,

 

Chris

[davefromacrossthepond]

Peter,

 

I just discovered this thread after seeing your post on the Great Electric Train Show thread.  The overall picture of your layout immediately grabbed my attention and after a short search, here I am.  I am simply blown away by Palin's Yard.  I think what grabs my eye the most are its structures and how you have arranged everything to "fit" so it is no longer a collection of buildings, but rather one complete picture. Crowded, but not over crowded.  Now it's time to slowly go through the earlier pages of this thread.  Should be a very enjoyable learning experience!

 

Dave

[peter220950]

Dave,

 

Many thanks for the kind words, though I suspect that when you read the thread in full you will see that most of the credit must go to Gordon Gravett, whose design it is.

 

I decided to build it almost exactly as his plan, and the delicate balance between buildings, open space, and track is brilliant. Operationally it's a bit limited, and I did consider putting an extra siding in, but this would have upset that balance.

 

What seems to have helped is the imagining of what was being made, how materials would have moved within the works, and what each building does. This seems to give more cohesion to the finished layout, rather than a random collection of buildings.

 

Of the amendments made by me, by chance the insertion of the tippler seems to have added an extra to the operation which aids the limited track plan, and I'm hoping the addition of further things like the working mill engines will mean it's still interesting to watch. The mirrored end got me out of a difficult situation to close the right hand end, though not ideal it does distract the eye from the end.

 

Though still early days I must have done something right, as a result of the weekend invites have already been received this week, for Weston-Super-Mare and Milton Keynes next year, so the work goes on.

 

Peter

[peter220950]

A further update, following another day of testing when the layout was put up for our Club open day.

 

Firstly, and most importantly, I need more motive power, of the three loco's I allocated I had a small period at Gaydon when I was down to one, not comfortable.

 

I also had some problem with Sprat & Winkle couplings coming apart, this is mainly due to magnets being close to board joint, where the slightest jolt uncoupled, so this needs to be addressed. In an ideal world I should have used electro-magnets, but it's too late to change course, particularly as I can't retro fit without severe damage to the baseboard.

 

The turntable was never used as intended, so this will have a block on one end and be permanently wired onto the track. This will save having to use a booster to change polarity and simplify things.

 

Stock levels are also low, and will be addressed over the next couple of months.

 

Finally the board joint showed up some discrepancy in level, so the layout needs to be set up at home and a day spent on sorting it out.

 

Work has already begun on the motive power front, the only one to survive the weekend was the Ixion Fowler, which just keeps on going like a Duracell Bunny.

 

The Peckett that took a dive, and came back to life on the Sunday, was still running a bit lumpy, so I put it on the rolling road to try to smooth things down a bit. Within a few minutes I had a three wheeler so it was back to square one. It appears that I hadn't cleared the valve gear away from the front wheel sufficiently, and things locked up and pullled the wheel off its axle, so I decided the best action was to strip the loco down fully.

 

I doubted if I could repair the chassis adequately, but thought I might be able to fit Slaters wheels and a new gear, however after a full strip down, clean, and re-assembly, I managed to get it all back together again, including the front wheel. The loco has now been running on the rolling road for several hours, and seems fine, a testament to the strength and engineering quality of Minerva.

 

That takes me back up to two layout loco's.

 

Next up was the ABS Fowler, which died due to a mystery fault, the sound chip works fine, but there's no motor power. Close inspection back at base revealed a loose front brake hanger, which I suspect had touched onto a driving wheel of opposite polarity. A repair to the chip is being organised and although I have repaired the hanger I will put some insulation onto all of the brake shoes. This should take me back up to three loco's.

 

When I thought the Peckett was dead beyond repair I decided I needed to replace it with another steam loco, so given that the Minerva offering was fine before I attempted to destroy it I ordered a new green one, which has now arrived, been run in, and awaits a new chip. Loco number four.

 

 

Given the reliability of the Ixion Fowler I decided to finish my freelance centre cab, that's been under construction for some time, it now just needs a coat of paint and again a new chip, and will provide me with loco five.

 

 

Once the freelance centre cab was built it left me looking at a box of Ixion body bits, so it seemed a shame not to use them,

 

 

a quick look at Chris Klein’s centre cab, and a trawl for photo's on the net, gave me the inspiration to build something similar to ED6 the BR engineering department loco. A chance glance through the Gauge O Guild Sales and Wants procured a further loco as a base, and that is now well onto its build, getting me to double the roster I started with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New name and number plates will be ordered for all the new loco's, these are usually based on friends and family, though the Fowler centre cab will probably be called Meyrick.

 

I might further convert my Dapol Terrier to an Industrial, subject to checking it out through the layout, my old Charles Covey Y8 based loco has had new Slaters wheels fitted, and may also be used, if reliable,

 

 

and finally I have managed to find room for 6 super capacitors and a speaker in my Ruston 48DS, which will be a novelty visitor.

 

 

A Slaters Caledonian Pug, Deely dock tank, and a Y10 lie waiting in the wings, but I'm reaching the stage where chips are likely to bankrupt me!

 

Having solved, or at least gone well along the road to solving the motive power shortage the next task is to sort the trackwork, levelling joints and relocating magnets, and to reconfigure the turntable.

 

Peter

Edited November 7, 2017 by peter220950

[Tove]

You seem to have been very busy one way or tother,but what caught my eye was the center cab conversion.

Because i thought looking at the picture, that look`s familar.......

So i could be wrong,but have you used a HO scale Bachmann GE44 tonner for the cab and hood`s by any chance?.

 

Brian.

[peter220950]

Brian,

 

 

It's the "Slimrails" GEC Style Diesel Loco designed originally for 7mm Narrow Gauge (O16.5 or On30) by Roger Chivers and now sold by his son Simon

 

 

Details here  http://www.slimrails...xlocospage.html

 

I bought a part kit on Ebay, intending to resin cast another end, then found the source through the helpful people on this forum. This enabled me to buy another kit and complete the project.

 

Peter

[peter220950]

Managed to get a bit more work done on the centre cabs yesterday, the Fowler has had the cab fronts and sides fabricated an fitted.

 

 

and as the decoders arrived today I thought it was time to blow a coat of primer onto both, in order to see what filling and fettling was needed. I find it difficult to see whats going on when there are several colours of plastic and glue stains distracting the eye, the freelance is pretty much there and I can now start to fit handrails, hinges etc onto the Fowler, as well as seeing where the holes are that need a spot of filler.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think the freelance buffer beam might need a repaint! Now all I have to think about is what colours they are going to be.

 

Peter

[81A Oldoak]

Managed to get a bit more work done on the centre cabs yesterday, the Fowler has had the cab fronts and sides fabricated an fitted.

 

20171110_164329.jpg

 

and as the decoders arrived today I thought it was time to blow a coat of primer onto both, in order to see what filling and fettling was needed. I find it difficult to see whats going on when there are several colours of plastic and glue stains distracting the eye, the freelance is pretty much there and I can now start to fit handrails, hinges etc onto the Fowler, as well as seeing where the holes are that need a spot of filler.

 

20171111_222134.jpg

 

20171111_222147.jpg

 

20171111_222200.jpg

 

20171111_222217.jpg

 

20171111_222259.jpg

 

I think the freelance buffer beam might need a repaint! Now all I have to think about is what colours they are going to be.

 

Peter

Excellent.

[peter220950]

Thanks are due to you for not only the excellent models Chris, but the inspiration with your centre cab.

 

The Fowler will be called Meyrick after Meyrick Edward Clifton James, as an acknowledgment of the source of the idea. (The man who was Monty's Double)

 

Peter

[Barnaby]

A late arrival to Palin's Yard, what superb modelling work is being done here.  All this with a gammy hand too which hopefully has been sorted now. 

 

Deffo one "to follow" so I've added it to my must follow list.

 

Well done.

 

Best.

[peter220950]

It's been a bit quiet since Gaydon and the Club open day, a combination of Christmas, building a new man cave shed, and a slight lack of railway modelling mojo. However the layout is booked to go to Milton Keynes in early February, so rather than my usual ‘leave it until the last minute’ approach I thought I would make a start on the snags that had been highlighted on the preliminary outings.

 

There were a number of minor issues to deal with, and without much enthusiasm I made a start today, knowing that in showing my grandson the layout in its box I had dropped it and dislodged the tippler, so that was the starting point.

 

Since it was constructed the tippler has been a problem when moved, the main pivot rod is not constrained and moving the layout, (or dropping it), tends to dislocate the pivot. A quick fiddle saw it back in place and working but a more substantial repair was felt necessary. One end of the pivot is constrained by a post, which carries the track feeds, but the other is free to float, and allows the pivot to drop out at the other end.

 

 

A new post was cut out of tube, and a capping made with a drawing pin, which now hopefully prevents end play in the pivot.

 

 

And a new set of foam rubber pieces were prepared to clamp the deck and counterweight together, it was found that clamping it together caused less damage than having the counterweight swinging free.

 

 

Despite putting different voltage regulators in the up and down feeds the effects of gravity still made the return too fast. I decided to try a quick and dirty approach, the switch was taken apart and a diode inserted into the return feed, not for its real purpose to allow current to flow in one direction only, but for the by-product of dropping about .7 of a volt. A quick test, and much to my surprise, it made a difference, so I put another in and it now raises and lowers at the same speed, - result.

 

 

Clearly I was on a roll, so I addressed another issue the protruding motor shaft, I had constructed a control cabinet to cover it, but it still tends to rub on wiring and the access platform, so I took a cutting disc to it, and solved another minor niggle.

 

 

As I only had one board out I couldn't address the track level issue, but I made a start by checking levels on the approach tracks, one seemed a little low, so a screwdriver was inserted below the sleeper, lifted, and some wood glue squeezed in and left to dry.

 

 

The magnets for the uncouplers were then removed from between the sleepers, ready to be cleaned and relocated in areas of clear plain track.

 

By this time I decided it was one of those rare days when everything went right, I need to make a leaflet holder to take flyers for our Club Exhibition, a measure of the leaflet gave a width of 105mm, I knew I had an offcut of Perspex in the garage which might suit, and not only did I find it straight away, but it measured just over 106mm, another result.

 

 

Having suffered with the Peckett jumping off the end of the turntable, and decided that I only really needed a sector plate, I next looked at putting in some stops to prevent further costly flights. Threaded inserts were fitted into the turntable, and blocks fitted to provide substantial buffers.

 

 

 

Then two things happened to give warning that the good fortune was about to end, while oiling the tippler with Electolube the tube split, then after I cleaned up my hand I decided to re-apply some treatment to a small wart on my finger, you can guess the rest, never put two similar tubes of anything on the workbench.

 

Having unstuck myself I decided to call it a day, hopefully the next session will go as well.

 

 

Next task is to get the other board up and remove the magnets, check the other track joint, before putting them together for a final alignment of the joint.

 

Peter

[peter220950]

Most of this was written over week a go, but last Monday saw a decline into ‘flu, which means several days work time have been lost due to lying in bed, but here's an update, even if it's a bit disjointed.

 

The trip to the Bristol O Gauge show was a double edged sword, seeing Gordon and Maggie Gravett’s Arun Quay highlighted the massive gulf in ability between my efforts and theirs, and a bit like other offerings on the Forum it treads a very fine line between disheartening me and inspiring me, fortunately I was in a good mood, so it has inspired.

 

The other useful find was a Scammell, I have a more modern one for use when I get around to making it, but at £10 I couldn't let it go, it shows that I got the loading deck right, but only serves to highlight the gateway, which I always knew was too narrow, but I'll just have to keep the two apart.

 

 

The layout has been put up to get some work done before Milton Keynes on the 10th, and the old magnets have all been taken out and the holes filled, new magnets have been installed in revised positions.

 

Using latex for ballast adhesive has proved its worth, making the replacement works quite easy, it was also fortuitous that I kept a small pot of the ballast mix.

 

 

 

Saturday also saw a disaster, one of the Minx Microdrive actuators jammed, so I removed the timber cover and cleared out stray ballast, tested, and glued the cover back, little realising that the cover now impeded the actuator throw, resulting in one dead actuator.

 

The problem with this is that Minx ceased trading over a year ago, and no buyer was found for the business. A short term fix was to swap the actuator for the fiddle yard one, but it left me feeling very uneasy about Exhibitions, when I would want to be able to replace a failed component, and I didn't have a replacement.

 

There were two options, replace all motors with servos or try to get replacement actuators. I had already decided to go back to servos, using MERG kit, but that wasn't going to happen in ten days, particularly when I wasn't feeling my best, I could put a servo on the fiddle yard, but it still leaves me vulnerable to failure in an Exhibition.

 

A bit of research on the web showed the old Minx website was still active, (though it transpires the owner wasn't aware of this and hasn't paid the ISP for a year), this gave me an e-mail and ‘phone number, the e-mail got no response by Tuesday so I hit the ‘phone, Wednesday found John Arundel at home and he confirmed the actuators were still available, phew! Very helpfully he put me three in the post, so that was one less problem.

 

 

By now we move on six days, to the first time I have felt able to do anything on the layout.

The Scammel has had a couple of coats of paint, and is starting to blend in a bit better.

 

 

Thanks to John at Minx the new actuators had arrived on Saturday and the fiddle yard point is now back in service, and I have a couple of spares. Surface mounting may have been a mistake, but I can swap a motor in about 2 minutes if there's ever a problem at an Exhibition.

 

 

I have made a start on painting the Omen Miniatures figures I bought at Bristol, but the cat is the only one to make it onto the layout yet.

 

 

And this afternoon was spent putting new canopy posts in, to get correct clearance for the vans, and dirtying it up a bit, as it was still in primer

 

 

 

And finally a quick foam core lash up of a canopy was added to the far end of the loading deck as a short term fix.

 

 

This now leaves me a couple of things to do in the next week, rolling stock needs expanding and weathering, and to this end I've made a start, and secondly I'm working my way across the layout sorting little scenic issues and bits of weathering to buildings. The layout still won't be finished, (are they ever?) but now I'm feeling a bit brighter I have a fighting chance it should be a lot closer.

 

Peter

Edited February 4, 2018 by peter220950

[peter220950]

Layout all checked out and cleaned,

 

 

 

 

Just finished loading it into the car for its trip to Milton Keynes this afternoon, though everything is like wading through treacle at the moment, really glad it's only a one day Exhibition as the 'flu aftermath has pretty much wiped me out.

 

If anyones going, drop by for a chat, I'm not infectious anymore!

 

Peter

Edited February 9, 2018 by peter220950

[Simond]

Looks good. I was going to ask if it was prototypical to have phone boxes on both sides of the road, then I remembered...

 

Enjoy the show!

Simon

[pauliebanger]

Looks good. I was going to ask if it was prototypical to have phone boxes on both sides of the road, then I remembered...

 

Enjoy the show!

Simon

 

Quite typical.

 

Calls to the North are made from one side of the road, calls to the South are connected via the other. This saves digging up the road to entrench telephone wires..........

 

Pete, glad you are back on your feet.

 

Kind regards,

 

Paul

 

Edited for spelling.

Edited February 9, 2018 by pauliebanger