Patriot87003

Something Hot? With Steam? And being announced before Winter? My money is on … Note: Desulphurisation plant and flue not included. Pre-orders open now; due to arrive July 2024.

It looks like the loco’s are arriving to retailers … with Rails expecting their batch tomorrow (no connection with them!) https://railsofsheffield.com/blogs/news/Heljan-oo-gauge-class-45-due-early-october I’m planning to attend GETS in Milton K on Saturday, I wonder if some retailers will have a few with them at the show?

Another internet search has found this pic … 45115 in the same road, but shunter on the other side! On the 7th July 1985. That ties in with the 4th July date better … https://railphotoprints.uk/p683721011/hA49433D3#ha49433d3

Many thanks for the gen, has solved a 37yr mystery to me! I think the date is correct as I’ve just done a www search and found the same view (with a better camera!) linked below (2nd picture down the page) https://www.derbysulzers.com/peakseverywhere.html Although I’m not sure it was a football special … being June, the domestic season had ended; Palace’s last match was during 11th May, so more likely to have been one of the inter-regional services.

Small world! My old house as a child overlooked Selhurst depot … and was amazed to see a Class 45 at the Tennison Road stabling point. My Dad took me to get a few pics … apologies for the poor quality; I had just turned 9yrs old! While I’m here, a few other pics from my bedroom window! I wish I could have a time machine with a better quality camera … also to have taken some more pics. 47488 A banger blue 47 … Class 56’s travelled north along the Up Slow (the other side of the embankment) so this service along the Down Slow (this side of the embankment) was quite rare. 47209 (taken from the alley way at the back of my old house; the land in the foreground was sold off and is now houses along Towpath Way) During Feb 1988 a very rare visit of a pair of 37’s to use the Down siding (with the old Tennison Road bridge in the background; since replaced with a new bridge)

Good question IMHO. While I don’t have a pressing need to have a 45 on my WCML themed layout, 45’s did sometimes visit and I have taken the plunge to pre-order 45133. Why? Well … I saw the pictures of the samples and then the samples close in person and just looks like an impressive and substantial model. I particularly like the chassis detail, the nose, the livery application and finish, also the lack of an overly large gap between the chassis and body. I’m lucky enough to have a decent sized layout so overall, the number 1 priority I have is a good reliable heavyweight motor and chassis. I’m grateful that we now have two manufacturers producing Class 45’s with modern mechanisms. So for me, it was more of a say 52% v 48% decision whether to choose the Heljan model v it’s competitor. A few pics of the real things that I’ve taken over time … 45108 at the recent East Lancs Railway diesel gala (16th September 2022) 45105 at the Barrow Hill event (27th August 2022) D123 at Quorn on the Great Central Railway (26th June 2022) 45112 at Crewe open day (10th September 2005) 45041 at the Midland Railway Centre (3rd September 2005) A couple of scanned pics of either 45115 or 45125 at Selhurst Depot! (The former stabling point near Tennison Road during 1985; apologies for the poor quality of the scans). Class 45’s were an unusual visitor … but for a few weeks, some were used on the Cross Country services to/from Brighton and the south coast and one weekend, a 45 ended up at Selhurst!

The Heljan newsletter linked below says the Class 45’s due to arrive to shops in the next 10 to 14 days … https://www.Heljan.co.uk/post/peaks-in-production?utm_campaign=8d3e7e32-9421-4742-bef2-783d81caa952&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&cid=12d42152-d01c-4279-82d5-4ff1f6f5f758

Great pic … and I can spot myself having a good chat with Mr AY Mod! 😉 Agree as well … enjoyed the show and the new venue; very spacious. Probably the first exhibition I’ve been to where I’ve been able to view and enjoy every layout and trade stand comfortably and at a leisurely pace. Credit and thanks to all those that have put in the hard work to make it happen … hope this weekend is a success for the club and look forward to visiting next year.

Many thanks Dave. I’m also enjoying following your layout build and good luck with the overhead wiring! Regarding operating, the layout is still DC Analogue using two 4-track Gaugemaster panel controllers. Controllers 1 to 6 are linked to 12 rotary switches that control 12 zones of the layout, then controller 7 powers the depot and controller 8 can power the lower yards, test track and testing wires. I usually operate the layout in two configurations … either ‘roundy-roundy’ mode, where the 5 main tracks (Down Fast, Up Fast, Down Slow, Up Slow and Reversible) have the rotary switches set to controllers 1 to 5. This allows easy continuous operation of 5 trains … ideal for when family/friends visit and play etc. I can then have simple variations, by ‘looping’ the fast line trains into the Davidson Parkway loop platforms, even sending a rake to and from Patriot Central via the incline. This allows the Slow Lines to operate ‘roundy-roundy’. I can then also send slow line rakes to or from the yards easily. Another mode of operation is simplistic one-train running … where the whole layout is powered by one controller. Eg All the rotary switches switches to say Controller 1. Just have to make sure all other loco’s are in an isolating section! This mode is ideal and easy for track cleaning, using the camera truck, running in or testing, also sending rakes to and from the yards to anywhere on the layout. The DPDT switches to the left of the rotary switches were included in the planning phase to allow conversion to DCC at some stage in the future … and with the main scenery and stock around the layout in a decent place, it’s a bit tempting to give DCC a dabble! Although I do enjoy the ease of use of cab-control using the rotary switches and the panel controllers … and I have had 8 trains running at once a few times before! Operator errors do occur though, especially when distracted or tired … most frequently forgetting to reset points back to ‘normal’ position after a rake has passed … so the next rake either short circuits or stalls! Look forward to your updates as well and enjoy the EMU’s … would be good if a few of the 321’s and 319’s were upscaled!

Time for a bit of an update! Following cleaning the layout, several running sessions have been enjoyed making use of the flexibility the new yards provide. Only a few minor niggles but pleased with the reliability so far and no track buckles occurred during the heatwave! I attended the Bachmann collectors club practically perfect event during June and enjoyed as well as purchasing three bargains …. D123 was running during the day City of Leicester was stabled next to the Bachmann marquee First purchase was a Class 90 … since renumbered and renamed to become 90009 The Economist (I fancied a class 90 with a red nameplate!) Class 37 in Regional Railways livery was the next purchase (37422). When Andy Y visited he mentioned/suggested a Reggie Rail rake may look decent under the wires … I since acquired a 4 coach rake (I remember travelling between Stafford and Crewe during the 1990’s behind a 37/4 hauling a short rake of them) so 37422 looks good hauling. This rake will also give some opportunities for other interesting loco’s to haul in future. Final purchase was a railfreight liveried Class 47 that became a donor to become 47363 Billingham Enterprise. Murphy’s law … as soon as I commenced this project, then Kernow announced the red-stripe version was available! However, I do prefer the non-red-stripe version and pleased with this mini project and it looks good hauling the Cavalex TEA’s. I’ve also been scanning in many old photo’s onto the IPad to provide a backup and ease to scroll through. I remember seeing 47363 from my bedroom window as a kid several times but never photo’d … I did capture 47488 though (no idea the date … likely to be late 1980’s) with Selhurst Depot in the background. The land between Davidson Road and the Down Slow was sold-off during the 1990’s and houses built upon them. Another relatively recent purchase was one of the Hatton’s bargain Hornby Class 87 87001 dual named Royal Scot/Stephenson. It has become a donor loco to backdate to a 1980’s version of 87033 Thane of Fife, complete with the multiple working sockets added. Following extensive testing, I’ve now allocated siding numbers for each freight and passenger rake in the storage yards. I’ve printed a label for each yard to help with running sessions … the freight rakes allocated to Yard 1. Yard 2 primarily contains the loco-hauled services, to allow the loco’s to haul up the incline to the main layout. Yard 3 holds some of the push-pull rakes with the DVT’s. These rakes have the DVT’s modified to have a coupling bar, so the rake could be hauled from either end. The two short passenger rakes also stored in Yard 3, with two spare sidings … The dead-end Yard 4 holds the rakes that are guaranteed to have the motor at one end in order to haul up the incline. I have re-added the Voyager to the layout following servicing … the gear trains were gummed up with grease. At the same time I also stripped and serviced my Bachmann Class 85 that had some performance issues and it’s running well again. The glue has seeped through the paper a bit to blodge the ink … oops! I can live with it as I’m likely to update the rakes and sidings over time. Two more sidings are spare …. So potential for 4 new rakes in future, or 5 if I double-stack the short rakes in one of the longer sidings. The only rake that doesn’t like the incline and curves to the lower storage sidings is the NSE Mark 1 rake … the close-coupling mechanism of the Bachmann coaches doesn’t straighten up after the curves due to the weight of the stock climbing the incline …. So that will have to live in the terminal station and upon the main layout. Another bit of progress has been to use a small piece of 3mm plywood and attach the plug, LED light and sound-bar controllers to it to allow ‘walkabout’ control around the shed. I’ve also attached Velcro to the back of the ply and to the control panel … just another little project to make using the layout and shed a bit more easier and enjoyable! Plenty more mini-projects on the to do list around the layout and to the rakes and loco’s and I’ll be recording a running session video in the coming days. A few interesting pre-orders ….

I’ve just stumbled across this thread …. And seeing your message made me smile …. More than happy for you to share 👍 Even if my own experiences help just one other modeller … then that’s more than worth the effort to compile! I guess to summarise my video, reliable running is a bit of a system … I’ve learnt that unfortunately there’s no one silver-bullet … but several factors are involved; several regarding the track and cleaning fluid used … also the wheelsets and pickups … and other factors … and there’s probably a few more I didn’t cover. Layout size and access and frequency of use also factors as to method of cleaning the track. Choice of cleaning fluid is also a big factor … I’m more than happy with using WD-40 contact cleaner … while I’ve read that others that avoid traction tyres use Inox with success. Both of these are ‘non-polar’ solvents … and much better than polar solvents such as IPA.

I’ve recently given the layout a decent clean and put together the video below summarising a few tips that I’ve learnt and used over time that help me achieve reliable running. Many of them have been inspired by others … so thought I would share to hopefully help others. In recent years I’ve converted from using IPA (99.9%) to using WD-40 Electrical Contact Cleaner. I learnt that IPA is a Polar solvent and they are prone to causing micro-arcing that in turn generate crud and grime. Whereas WD-40 contact cleaner is non-polar. Note that contact cleaner is very different to the normal WD40 lubricant! I only clean the layout once or twice a year …

I’ve just seen that Heljan have announced a further four Class 86’s; three Class 86/0’s and a Class 86/4 in IC Mainline livery (86417 The Kingsman). https://www.kernowmodelrailcentre.com/n/199/Heljan-announce-new-Class-86-versions-in-00-gauge?fbclid=IwAR1tZuKK0Z1eJI0_9vA84FrVv8--cIJFSGz0IQZMuwzGsknaFVheO-vi9Qs This is in addition to the recently announced Gaugemaster exclusive 86401 in NSE livery.

Great news … and just pre-ordered the IC Executive livery for running along the WCML! Did you get a chance to browse the Class 81 and Class 50 while at Barrow Hill? 😉

Thanks Clan, Phil and Gaz for the kind comments. The layout is approx 7m by 4.5m (22ft by 14ft) …

Hi Phil, Andy Y produced a lovely track plan to show the main layout for when the layout featured in BRM last year (I hope he doesn’t mind me re-posting it here) … As part of the latest video, I also took a panoramic shot using my phone … Hope these help give a feel for the overall interior of the shed and layout …

I’ve recently been scanning and sorting older photos … and it gave me an idea to compile a video to show the construction of the shed and layout in a year-by-year summary video. I started construction of the shed during 2006 … time flies by! The Bachmann Class 90’s are lovely loco’s and four that I pre-ordered have arrived this week … tested and each are very smooth runners …

Good choice of liveries! The four that I pre-ordered arrived today … a slight difference in choice as my layout is from the 1980’s to early 2000’s, so chose the IC Mainline version. Just given them a test run and lovely smooth runners.

I just read on WNXX that it’s heading to Toton for a family and friends event at the depot. Meanwhile … I’m noticing online that the DCC Ready versions of the Virgin, IC Mainline, RES and EWS are arriving into retailers …

The shoe beam is this bit arrowed below. The beam has collector shoes to collect electricity from the third rail (750ish Volts of DC). The thing on the roof that touches the overhead wire is called a pantograph (collecting 25kV AC). This is 92022 Charles Dickens at the Crewe Basford Hall Open Day, 28th August 1995 … and I have one of these lovely loco’s on pre-order!

Last year I purchased some of these card corridor connections from an EBay seller (no connection) to trial on my Hornby HST … The packs arrive with a set of card blanking plates and the folded connections. For rakes already with reasonably close couplings and small gaps, only one of the folded card connections is required. The Mark 3’s have the Hunt Elite couplings fitted. I glued the blanking plates and folded connections with dabs of tacky white glue … When coupled up, they close the gap between the carriages … but the magnets allow for easy uncoupling if required. I had a few derailments during testing and running especially when traversing the scissors crossover when the motored power car was pushing but also a few when hauling. I realised that some of the folded connections were taking more of the compression force compared to the coupling, also some additional friction caused some carriages to do a wheelie! I’ve removed the folded connections and cut off one of the card folds from each connection (to leave 3 folds instead of the original 4) then refitted. Testing in both push and pull modes has not resulted in any derailments so far, so looks like the problem is solved. Very pleased with them and tempted to purchase and fit to other rakes.

Glad you enjoyed! Those two Mainline 87’s are original Lima bodies but fitted with the Limby chassis. All my Lima and Limby 87’s have been detailed a bit, such as fitting handrails to the front end, repainting the yellow warning panels etc. Nowhere near as good as the super detailed 87’s but from a distance they still make decent layout loco’s. Good luck progressing your layout(s) as well, look forward to seeing any updates …

Great job with recreating 87018 in it’s early IC Exec livery and adding the MW details; good idea! I bought one of the bargain 87001 and am intending to back date and add the MW boxes as well … which product did you use to create the silicone mouldings, any suggestions? 👍

It’s like busses! A long wait for pre-orders to be manufactured and distributed … then two rakes arrive in quick succession! One of my first carriages I received as a Christmas pressie as a child was a Lima MK3 sleeper in BR blue/grey livery, then during the 1990s and early 2000s I was lucky enough to enjoy quite a few sleeper services to Fort William, Aberdeen and Inverness as well as Edinburgh and Glasgow. So when Hornby announced a new batch of MK3 Sleepers during January 2021 a pre-order was submitted. They arrived recently … and in the meantime I had purchased a Bachmann MK2 RFM and a MK1 full brake. The berth side … The corridor side … I’ve replaced the couplings within the rake with Hunt magnetic couplings (the Elite Close Buckeye type) A couple of pics of the new rake … I have also had a few running sessions and pleased with the new rake. It’s only one portion of a typical 1990s London - Scotland rake when two were usually coupled together to form the Euston - Glasgow + Edinburgh service … but the terminus is not long enough for two portions. Some of the storage sidings could handle a few more carriages but for now I’m happy with an 8 carriage rake. I have also recorded a few clips of the sleeper rake in action … I also recorded a few clips of the recent Cavalex TEA wagons …

I’ve had a couple of running sessions this week with the new rake and very impressed. Further to Richard’s message above, I’ve not had any derailments of my rake (famous last words!) and I’ve even cranked up the speed to un-prototypical values including through complex pointwork and all stayed on the track! I do have a couple of squeaks that I intend to lubricate … otherwise no issues. I’ve recorded a brief running session of them in action …