dale159

Quick one from today A bit more ballasting has taken place and my friend Simon has been around and helped by freeing up all the points. The parts for the barrow crossing cut from some spare Wills tongue and groove board left over from another project. I'll leave that glue drying until my next day off on Wednesday and see where we go from there. Dale

Progress has not been as planned since last post, After letting the latest round of ballasting dry, I found myself having to patch up few areas where the glue had not reached, then when I came to scrape away the excess in places, again I found most of these hadn't stuck and so up the hoover they went. I have also found with ballasting that all of the points I have done have been glued up solid and I am having difficulty freeing them up again. On a happier not I have installed my parcel loading platform I wasn't quite sure what to do across the end of the track having bought some brick plasticard, in the end I stuck with a regular bit of platform. And ballasted (still drying as I type) with a wall mounted Peco buffer stop, after taking this photo I have found a small piece to fill the corner to the left of the buffer stop. Behind this ramp will form part of the parcels platform I have cut away the moulded sides of the concrete platform edge at roughly the same level as the back of the ramp read for when the top surface goes on. More gluing, ballasting, waiting for glue to dry and freeing up points to come! Dale

I too was looking to purchase some window frames for a refurbished CEP so having seen this I contacted ppdltd.com and have just completed the transaction, cost to me was £18. Very swift service from start to finish in 48 hours. Usual disclaimer no connection just a satisfied customer! Dale

Bit more done this afternoon. I have moved onto the centre of the three scenic boards. Before ballasting the points I cut away the lugs supplied for mounting Peco motors to give a better appearance. I decided I would like to have a Barrow crossing at the end of the electric platforms but as the there was no clear place for one with all the points I have shortened one platform by about 2 inches to accommodate one, but still it will go right over the middle of the crossover, not sure how prototypical that is, original platform length was where I have marked 'PL' above the double slip (before mod in previous picture). Some more ballast down, glue drying, don't be tempted to prod and poke to see if its dry yet! And with that glue drying The first lengths of 3rd rail have now gone down. Can't do much more until that glue dries and then its more clearing and scraping ballast. Dale

Back to ballasting today. Having given the ballast 48 hours to fully dry I set about the arduous task of clearing the excess ballast way from the sleepers and sides of the rails, using a Lima mk3 with deep flanges to check my work. For better access to the bay platform at the front of the board it was removed and turned around (large screwdriver required to break the PVA that had dribbled down the board join). I also took this opportunity to patch up any areas I'd missed or removed too much in the clearing process, and give the rails a good clean. Left - clean track, Right - dirty track. I then turned my attention to my cassettes, Having changed over from dome headed to countersunk screws, because of clearance problems with 3rd rail shoes, meant I had to revise my original method of powering the cassettes which was with a wire soldered to a washer that was then trapped under the screw head. Rummaging around in a box of bits I found the last six inches of the real of copper tape used in various places around the layout. Having originally attempted to solder the wires straight to the Aluminium angle I quickly realised that was a non starter so having found the copper taper I figured that if I stuck strips of tape down to the piece of ply under the Aluminium angle the wire could be soldered to the exposed part of the tape, the electrial connection being made with the pressure of the Aluminium being screwed down on top. Completed Job. More ballasting to come over the weekend I suspect. Dale

Today I have started ballasting. At our recent exhibition the club received a donation of a large potato sack weighing about 25 kilos full of brown ballast so I have acquired a 1 litre ice cream tub full which I figured would be sufficient for Brixington Town. To lighten the colour up a little bit I bought a small bag of Woodland Scenics medium grey ballast which I mixed in. To minimise the amount of ballast lost between board joints and to prevent them being glued together in the ballasting process I inserted these lengths of ply. And so the ballasting began, starting with the 2 3rd rail bay platforms. After gluing, I am using 50/50 PVA and water and a few drops of washing up liquid, this meant I could remove the drawing pins that had been holding the track down. Then the 2 main through platforms. The last bay platform. And a few inches on the corner board which will be visible beyond the scenic break and disguised with a station building over the top. So I'm going to give that lot about 24 hours to dry. Some minor tidying up is required removing ballast on sleepers and ensuring clean running with a coach. Dale

Quickie update, just two photos. All platform sides now installed I am looking at doing some sort of Parcels or Newspapers or MLV loading platform along this short siding as a extension of the main platform. I need to fine tune the platform edges in the far end of the board before I can start ballasting. Dale

Train full again? Dale

I can't see how the coach from 377442 can be that badly damaged as for it to be written off, other than internal fittings being a bit burnt. Remember after the fire the complete 4 car unit was hauled from Eastbourne to Selhurst top and tail between the two ROG 37s (in the middle of the day at reasonable speed, few videos of it on YouTube) surely it would have been examined at Eastbourne and passed fit prior to this move. If considered unfit for example with signs of the structure being compromised then it would have been removed from the set on site at Eastbourne and taken by road from there with the remaining 3 cars then being formed up and probably taken away by the 37s And conveniently the coach in question is the one that the 377/3s don't have allowing them to use the remaining 3 cars as a serviceable unit. Dale

Another Platform update. Having painted and weathered another batch of platform edges I have now installed the front and rear most platforms. I had intended to start on the second electric platform opposite the one I installed last week. The end ramp of this platform is quite close to the toe of a point so ensure the correct clearance between train and platform I intended to use a Mk3 coach entering the platform via the crossover. So I powered up the layout, changed the point on the control panel and it was at that very moment that there was a 'ping' sound as the wire fell out of the tortoise motor, the most awkward one as its about 2 inches from the frame of the board (so close it prevented said motor being installed the opposite way around) and as such after removing the motor and reattaching the wire I was unable to locate it back into the hole in the point. In the end I resolved the problem by using some single core wire stripping about an inch of the insulation of the end, this was then fed down through the tie bar where I reused the piece of insulation to connect the 2 bits of wire together This was then drawn back up through the point and located back in the hole, Result!! (motor screwed back into place before removing wire) And so back to platforms Before arriving at that solution with the point motor I installed bay platform at the front nearest the public viewing side. Clearance not so much of an issue on this one. I also cut down a piece to go across the end. Having then sorted the point I could set to work on the rear platform. I have kept a slightly larger clearance all the way along this platform with the right hand curve toward the far end, Shouldn't be too noticeable from the public viewing perspective especially after the station is built up. Mk3 showing inside clearance. More priming and painting the remaining 20 or so piece before installation. Dale

Quick Platform update One of the electric bay platforms has been secured down to the layout and I am now working on the opposite one. The first one faces the operator so hasn't been weathered but the second one will be. Sides are painted with concrete with the coping stones on top in Rail grey, with a white line along the edge to be carefully added at a later date. All paints used are Railmatch acrylic. The second platform has had the same treatment but as this one will be public facing at exhibition has been weathered up with some frame dirt painted on and then wiped off with some kitchen roll, I think this is the first weathering of any sort I've ever done and I'm quite pleased with the results. Again white line to be added later. Dale

Occasionally a train would be formed up mostly of 1st class coaches. http://www.hondawanderer.com/47587_South_Moreton_1991.htm Best example I could find 4 1/2 coaches out of 7 are 1st class on an Oxford - Paddington as would currently be worked by either an HST or 165/166. Dale

I know who did that! Not guilty! Dale

I understand there is an issue in the centre section of each coach where the coolant header tank is located inside the saloon between a row of 3 back to back seats meaning they cannot be removed, but I believe the plan is to remove the 3rd seat from all of the other banks of 3. I agree in their current state that a 158 is a better suited unit to the Cardiff-Portsmouth run. It's a shame that there are only a limited number to play with and GWR are struggling to provide enough to run the service with regular substitutions using 150s again this can cause problems when a 150/1 (also the 2 150/0s and 150202 & 216) with 3+2 seating means the catering trolley cannot pass through. A stark contrast to 11 years ago toward the end of Wessex Trains and the beginning of First operation there were so many 158s in the fleet they were being deployed on Devon metro services for which they are not best suited, in fact you could have considered yourself unlucky to get a 150 on the Exmouth line during these times (even better still when the 158s arrived from TPE with small first class section!) That said Wessex Trains and Wales and Borders made a very nice job refurbishing all their 150s and changing the seats to 2+2 and it would have been nice to see those units that have come into the fleet since be treated similarly if they are staying for the forseable future. Dale

Sorry off topic - 153 on the later diagram today so 2O05 WSB-SOU and 2M98 SOU-GMV running as class 9. This often causes problems with station information screens as it will show the original train as being cancelled and often the replacement comes on the system without a platform allocated so won't announce until manually input and the original train deleted. Dale

Seen at Newton Abbot station where building work to install a gateline is underway. Just 2 letters round the wrong way changes the message completely. Dale

This happens when a 153 lands on this diagram and the same goes for another one mid afternoon as 153s have been barred through platform 3 at Salisbury after recent track renewals, this is done to act as a reminder to the signaller. Dale

Hello again! An excellent weekend was had at Exeter 2017 assisting with Exford TMD, here are a few photos I took. As said before, we have spent about 3 month leading up to the exhibition preparing Exford for a return to the circuit after about 5 years in storage where many of the card buildings had become irreparably damaged by snails and other such creatures Overview of the new arches, the bridge support has also been relocated to a more realistic position against the wall from between roads 3 and 4 where the green foliage now lies. The layout has also been totally rewired DCC only with Andy the owner having bitten by the DCC bug since the layouts last appearance at this show in 2012, many old Lima locos have been retired and replaced with new versions where these have come out since. Going DCC has enabled us to fit these Gaugemaster illuminated buffer stops. The layout is set in the 70s so lots of rail blue, diesel hydraulics and some of BRs one off prototype locos such as Kestrel and Falcon, but as the weekend progresses things degenerate into a 'run whatever you like' mentality My stock is a bit more modern ranging from 80s rail blue towards large logo, BR sectors and privatisation, I could have gone silly and brought lots of really modern stuff but to respect the layout I stayed sensible and kept just about everything blue. Ooooooops This pile up caused by a loss of infra-red signal between the two halves of the Dynamis, the Handset modified the same way as my own to use an external 6v supply so no need to worry about batteries, and indeed to use my own locos I simply brought one of my own handsets along. My NSE 117 also put in an appearance but as it isn't DCC fitted yet so it could not go on Exford. Happily The EXE Model Railway Society had another 5 members layouts at its disposal one of which was Yappington (1960 Southern steam era and not DCC) so while the owner was looking the other way for a moment. Nothing to see here! So back to Brixington town I am hopeful of doing something to it this week now that I have purchased the required number of Peco platform edges. Dale

Hello everyone! I'm still alive! Nothing to report on the layout since last post I'm afraid, haven't had a lot of time to spare on it recently and to be honest I've again run into a bit of a mental block as to which bit to tackle next. I think I ought to make a start on the station platforms which once done will then enable me to start ballasting, I am going to use Peco concrete effect side with a plasticard top, I have just been out measuring the lengths to work out how many pack of platform sides I'm going to need. Unfortunately the track has buckled in a few places given the recent heatwave, probably best seen to while its still hot. Also this length of track has had something dropped on it from the shelf above which has dented both rails and so will need to be replaced. Silly me gave all my surplus track to the local club after I finished laying before this happened but I have pinched a piece back again. Rolling stock wise I have been working on my other Lima 117. Similar to the NSE one it has had the second brake compartment removed with a Silver Fox kit (I did do this one) and as such has had a full respray into Blue Grey even though it was Blue Grey to start with. Once finished it will be passed off as a Laira 118 as seen in the Devon area up unto Sprinterisation. In the last 3 months I have also been assisting my Friend Andy (Crompton48 of this parish) refurbish and rewire his layout Exford TMD for a return to the Exeter exhibition on 1st & 2nd July after which I should have bit more time to spend on Brixington Town. Dale

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-39717728 Oh, that'll be why they've cordoned that bit off then. Dale

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39609977 Any idea when the next train to Cowes might be? Dale

I saw it on BBC news app on my phone about 10 o'clock last night so I believe it is genuine. Also, unless one happened to be be a Postman where would he have obtained 2 of the red cards from, either auntie Beeb are jumping the gun a little bit or it is a genuine incident with slightly unfortunate timing. Dale

So that's why my mother always used to nag me about leaving the seat up. Dale

Indeed, hence why I left it there!