Brian D

There are more pictures of the building enclosing the controller ("Deneside Engineering Co Ltd") below. I've also made a start on the building to mask the main switch panel. Regards, Brian.

I'm currently trying to "hide" the main controls from the layout viewpoint by making some buildings to enclose them. The building around the controller is just visible here on the LHS... ...with the billboards on the gable end. I'll try and find a better pic later but for those who couldn't be bothered with the last video here are a few "Deneside Dieselisation" pics. Stay safe my friends. Regards, Brian.

Hi Andy, Belated Birthday Greetings mate. I hope this "pregnant pause" in life is not getting you down too much. I expect it will all get back to normal at some point at which time we can congratulate ourselves on getting through it! Loving the back catalogue Andy - no doubt there's more to come. All the best, Brian.

The second dieselisation video is now available to view here. This one is longer than usual because there are lots of shunting operations involved in dealing with incoming empty hopper trains and departing full hoppers. Enjoy or otherwise. Regards, Brian.

Thanks Pete. Stay tuned - I will likely remove my Q6s and replace them with class 24s (plus brake tenders of course). Regards Brian

I have made another short video for your for your enjoyment or otherwise entitled "Dieselisation at Deneside". It features my pair of Hornby Metro Cammell DMUs and the Bachmann class 25 on a train of minerals. Watch it here https://youtu.be/TlKWewd_T4g Regards, Brian.

I have just read this D20 thread and I thank you for the pointers. As you know, I'm just about to start my build. Your experiences and discussions above will be extremely useful. Thanks again for the prior knowledge. Your loco definitely looks the business and if mine turns out as good as yours I will be a happy chappie! Regards, Brian.

Exploded views from the kit instructions attached below. Regards, Brian.

I originally purchased this kit because I thought it would be moderately easy to construct considering the fact that this would be my first foray into white metal kit building. My reasons at the time were: No outside valve gear to assemble. If modelling BR end of steam, a nice and easy colour scheme (plain black with only the splasher edges burnished). In short, yes please - see below. It seems I have uncovered a can of worms regarding the D20s of which I was previously blissfully unaware. I already had doubts and restrictions about selecting a particular prototype because some of the frames above the footplate in the smokebox/forward part of the boiler area ahead of the splashers shown in Yeadons differ considerably from the kit. The frame ends forward of the smoke box are clearly convex. Also, nearly all of the Yeadons pics are in LNER days whereas I want to model a BR end of steam prototype if possible. If pushed I would have numbered my completed model 62389 or 62396 both of which appear to have the right sort of frames above the footplate forward of the splasher and a small (as kit) smoke box door as shown in my Yeadons. Another kit construction oddity is that the instructions for the kit only refer to the main brass chassis members which only extend between the two sets of sub-footplate steps. The other separate brass chassis members which look as though they belong over the front bogies are not referenced at all in the written instructions or the exploded view therein, nor are they drilled for spacers and no spacers are provided, only sufficient for the main chassis. A puzzle. At the moment I am awaiting low melt solder and flux ordered from Eileen's Emporium which is "dispatched" but not yet received so construction is on hold and I have time to ponder all of the above. I need to get a working chassis built and tested first and I'll take it from there. I can't thank you all enough for the time and effort you have expanded in replying to my original request for help. This has helped enormously. Best Regards, Brian.

Thank you so much for all of your replies. There appears to be a modicum of support for mounting the motor on the leading driver axle facing forward so, using rubber bands and blu-tac to partly assemble the loco body I have carried out some more experiments as shown below. Firstly, in answer to the suggestion of mounting the motor vertically, I think it is a definite no no. The forward mounting I think is still the best option. The following pic shows where the brass chassis assembly might fit. This (dodgy) close up shows that there is plenty of space within the boiler... ...and this pic attempts to show how far the motor extends forwards within the boiler (not quite reaching the smoke box). As has been suggested, there is space behind the gear box for a lump of lead which, because the in-cab fire box detail casting is a separate casting, could be attached to said lump of lead and fitted loosely (maybe held in position by micro magnets) after the motor on its chassis has been slid in position and screwed to the bodywork. I agree about the tender castings which will require a lot of fettling. It's a shame I can't buy a Hornby Q6 tender as a spare part. Another concern I have is the fact that the pick ups are only suggested to pick up from the four drivers. I would feel happier if I can devise additional tender or bogie pick ups. I would welcome any further comments or suggestions and thanks again to all who have taken the time to contribute to this thread. Regards, Brian.

As I have said above, I have decided to grasp the nettle of building the DJH D20 kit. As I have also probably said this white metal loco kit build will be a first for me so I decided to seek help elsewhere on RMWeb by starting this thread. I have had some great advice so I feel a lot more confident going forward with the D20 kit. But I'm waiting for some low melt solder and flux to arrive. In the meantime I have started writing up a sequence timetable, more on that later. I will leave you with a picture of a DMU arriving. Regards, Brian.

As a lock down project, I have looked again at my DJH D20 kit acquired a few years ago on that well known auction site. Having never built a loco chassis before, I was hoping to use a rtr chassis such as the Bachmann D11 or Hornby D16 but for various reasons (the D11 motor is pitched too high for the D20 boiler and the D16 is just too pretty to destroy!) I have discounted this idea and decided to grasp the nettle and build the kit starting with the chassis. The kit came with wheels but no motor so I purchased the motor/gear box recommended on the DJH website. This is now to hand and the good news is that, having test wired it to the track, it seems beautifully smooth and silent. However, I am undecided how it should fit in the kit's chassis. The exploded view in the kit instructions shows an XO4 type motor powering the rear driving axle but if I replicate this type of drive the gear box fills the cab thus. Similarly, if the drive is switched to the leading trailing axle the the motor intrudes in the cab area and it is likely that the gearbox will not fit in the boiler. However, if I turn the motor round on the leading axle the motor/gearbox fits nicely and does not intrude into the cab. But I have concerns about this last arrangement. The main chassis is very short according to the kit's exploded view being limited to the area just forward of and to the rear of the driving axles and the centre of gravity would be too far forward I would have thought. However, some brass parts are supplied in the kit which appear to form a sub chassis over the leading bogie but the kit instructions make no reference to this - see below (apologies in advance, the motor is posed over the wrong driving axle). I could connect these two separate chassis's together, there is enough spare brass in the kit to do this if I cut and shut. This would solve the C of G problem but I am unsure, hence my cry for help. I would therefore gratefully welcome all relevant comments and suggestions. Regards, Brian.

More about the DJH D20 kit project. I had hoped to fit the loco white metal body to the Bachmann D11 "Butler Henderson" chassis. Unfortunately the D11 motor is pitched too high for the D20 boiler and fire box so it's a non starter. I then looked at my Hornby D16 "Claud Hamilton" chassis which, whilst it was probably possible to mate the chassis to the D20 body, much cutting and shutting of the white metal footplate and boiler/fire box. This and the fact that the D16 is such a pretty little model (I will build that GE section layout one day) I couldn't bring myself to donate the D16's chassis. So. I have decided to grasp the nettle and build the DJH kit (which will be new territory to me). YouTube videos and Tony Wright's April RM article and "Wright Writes" thread read and digested. Can't be that hard can it? I'll keep you posted. Meanwhile the DJH motor/gearbox was ordered and has arrived. Regards for now, Brian.

It is only a drip at the mo so my lash up should do for now. I once visited a property in the East End of London, a block of large concrete panel precast construction 4 storey maisonettes - similar construction to Ronan Point. The upper maisonettes had a walk way which formed a narrow roof over the lower maisonette. Rain water had been getting into the lower maisonette from the walkway above by penetrating through the joints between the concrete wall and floor panels. The tenant had installed guttering hung from the ceiling leading to a down pipe and a water butt, all in the tenant's bedroom. Amazing. Regards, Brian.

Difficult to concentrate on modelling with what's going on in the world at the moment but trying to keep busy! The latest work has involved my Hornby Metro Cammell (Class 101) DMUs. These DMUs (which I detested at the time) were so prevalent in my spotting days that I had to have at least one set. In fact I have two 3-car units, both of which had received front vac pipes, giant "Triang" coupling removal and close coupling in the past. I had already renumbered and put North East Region destinations on one so the other was brought into line and paper corridor connectors added to the inner ends of both sets thus. I have also added signs to the platform ends "Passengers Must Not Cross The Line" as below... ...and I finally got round to painting the "Smart Models" pigeon baskets. Now, the eagle eyed might have noticed a bit of splatter on the platform surface in the last couple of pics. This is not (intentional) weathering. In fact, the shed roof have developed a small leak so a temporary "bucket" has been strategically placed as below. I obviously need to replace the roofing felt on the shed roof and am on the case as regards the best means of making a long lasting repair if I can get stuff delivered (because everywhere is shut at the moment). That's all for now. I was going to mention the D20 project but I'll leave that until tomorrow. Regards, Brian.

After all, the reason for the tunnel coming out of KX is to get under the Regents Canal. Just a thought. Regards Brian

The latest video can be seen here... I have tweaked the camera and software settings so hopefully this video is a bit more HD than previous. I know this is not a proper NER loco but I am giving the D11 a run out because I want to be totally happy with its running characteristics before using the chassis of both engine and tender underneath the DJH D20 kit superstructures although I am not yet sure whether this combo is totally feasible. Regards, Brian.

Duly ordered. Thanks again Paul. Regards, Brian.

I don't normally comment on here but thought I would mention what happened to me and Mrs D this morning. We decided, instead of walking round the village as we did yesterday, we would walk across and along local fields on signed footpaths. This took us along and across the railway. On our return, a friendly Class 67 Shed driver gave us a toot toot and a wave. Made my day. Regards, Brian.

I have "foliaged" three trees though I find the Hob-E-Tac glue an absolute nightmare. Once you get it on your hands it's a right b*gger to get off despite mutlple hand washings. Anyway, I foliaged two grey trunks and put them in the church yard thus. The other green trunk I placed by the pub. I'm really not sure about these trees. I look at them and I think "broccoli" and I've decided to spray the other green trunks grey because I'm really not sure about the green. Might try a different approach for the foliage. Meanwhile, another mini project has been completed. The goods yard now has gates and a rather grand sign board. I might leave the trees for a while while I research alternative foliage techniques. I also feel another video coming on Regards, Brian.

That's probably what I saw advertised Paul. Thanks, I'll check that out. Regards, Brian.

Thanks for that Peter. I recall something similar advertised in the mags a while back. As my coach was a one off I just used a twist drill on the slant twiddled between my fingers and a bit of trial and error. However, I have some Hornby Gresleys which despite being re-bogied with Bachmann Thompson bogies do not run particularly freely so I might invest in one of these gizmos to sort them out. Thanks again for your interest and advice. Stay safe and healthy. All the best, Brian.

What interesting and quite frankly very scary times we live in if you believe everything that comes out of the magic gold fish bowl. Never mind. Meanwhile, back at the ranch... I've started making trees to scatter around the layout. My memories and recent experiences of the denes of east Durham are that they are heavily wooded so most of what I'm making will be planted on the valley slopes adjacent the viaducts, depending on how well they turn out. I've acquired some Woodland Scenics tree armatures and these have had their plastic base "pegs" chopped off with my sprue cutter and replaced with panel pins (heads cut off with side cutters) fitted into holes drilled in thetree trunks thus. The various tree trunks were then either spray painted matt grey or brown (being the only suitable spray cans to hand) or brush painted pale green. I was hoping the recommended Woodland Scenics glue, "Hob-E-Tac", would have arrived today but no, maybe tomorrow, so no foliage fitted as yet. More pics in due course. Stay safe my friends. Regards, Brian.

Has the world gone mad or what? At least we managed to get some bog rolls this morning! Anyway, here is an update on my latest mini project. I found some unused Ratio fencing and decided to fence off the road between the station throat overbridge and the control panel. So, it was duly painted matt black and glued in position. However, I really wanted to incorporate some bill boards here so this is the mini project I am referring to. The ground here slopes away steeply from back of pavement so I needed a drawing before proceeding, thus. The bill boards are raised up to clear the Ratio fencing so a frame was made from Evergreen plastic strip, the bill board itself and the period adverts were from a Scalescenes kit. Here is the usual work bench chaos... ...and the main parts of the assembly prior to painting and "bill posting"... ...and afterwards. Here are a couple of shots of the whole thing on the layout. Really quite pleased with how it's turned out. I've also been busy static grassing, but more on that another time. Regards, Brian.

Well, here's the thing. Ticket purchased a several weeks ago. Do I go and see an underwhelming exhibition due to all the cancellations or what? Will the (pre-paid in my case) ticket price be worth it? Can I claim a partial refund?