swisspeat

Thanks very much Jim. I think the fuse is a 13A. I will check tomorrow. I must say I did not find the Magnorail instructions that clear. Totally pictorial. They did not alert me to not to chop off this bit and that bit. I did okish but it was a bit of a mystery tour. I realise the instructions are for International use. Again, thank you. Pete

One of this years new items from Noch is kit 66832 which is moving skiers with an Apres Kit cabin. The skiers move via the Magnorail system and all parts are supplied in the kit. I was keen to build a small winter scene and the possibility of moving skiers caught my eye and I looked forward to posting a video here showing the moving skiers. I have nearly finished assembling the kit but have hit a snag with the motor/power. I wired up all up and it all worked great for a few minutes. Now nothing! The supplied AC/DC Adapter had a two pin European plug on it which I replaced with a UK style 3 pin mains plug. When I turned it on a second time the green light came on on the supplied "power box" then nothing. It also blew all the mains circuit on the downstairs of our house. I am slightly out of my comfort zone with electrics so thought I would ask for any ideas as to what I have done wrong. I attach a photo of the "under the baseboard" partially constructed skiing track. Thanks for reading and any suggestions will be warmly welcomed. Kind regards, Peter

You have done a great job painting the rails. What paint did you use please? I presume brush painted? Thanks. Pete P.S. keep taking Step by Step pictures as you go. They would be great for a magazine article in Continental Modeller or Modelspoormagazine.

On dear. I have just watched the Hattons video and I am too tempted! looks good value for money.... Pete

Great to see your splendid layout in the November CM Jim. peter

I do understand Trevor! Sadly I have seen that new livery on 2 locos already... Here are a few other modern BLS offerings.

Thanks everyone for comments made plus thumbs up. Here is a picture of the road above Spiez station which I loosley based mine on. For good measure I saw one of the BLS 465s in their latest livery. I expect this to appear in the Roco catalogue sometime but I doubt if I will buy one! That said I have a BLS 465 in Stockhorn livery by Roco and the sound has two platform announcements. One is so good I can imagine myself at Spiez station. Those were the days..... Pete

Been playing around with some figures I have in stock today... Painted cracks and lines on the road with an HB pencil. Cows coming down from the Alpine meadows. Pete

Hi Craig. No. I struggle with Superglue too. Rarely ever use it. Seems to have dried by the time I have it on the piece! My mirrors were fixed with good quality PVA (not poundshop diluted stuff) too. Dried nicely. Buses and lorries. They look so much better with mirrors though you do have to cut out space for the mirrors in the plastic tray in their packaging otherwise they fold flat when you put the vehicle back in the box. Next stage for the layout - no idea yet! :-) Peter

Thanks. The SBB Cargo Eem 923 is a Model by HAG as you probably know. Named Stockhorn after the nearby mountain. After 18 months I had to return it to the manufacturer because the driving axle became detached from the motor drive wheel. A common fault I understand. Fun to use, oddly Sound is started up on F7. I fitted the mirrors yesterday. By golly that was fiddly.

A few of the recent details added. Incidentally the backscene has been assembled from photos taken at the real location in August stuck to a couple of pieces of mounting cardboard.

Here is an almost overall view of the storage yard scenic backdrop of Spiez station... I have done quite a bit more detailing recently (taken after this picture was taken) of which I will post photos asap. Enjoy your Swiss modelling... Pete

Thanks Trevor. An overall view might be a little disappointing but I will take some more photos later on in the week. basically this layout is simply the fiddle yard for my Swiss lockdown layout that appeared on this Forum towards the beginning of lockdown. I set myself the challenge of trying to make storage sidings interesting to look at. I now have a 3 m end to end layout that for the first time that has given me somewhere to run the locos I bought over the previous decade. It is a lot of fun! Peter

Had a bit of a photo session today. Wondering about making a "clip fit" extension on the front of the baseboard to take platform 4/5 with a canopy so that the camera lens could be poked along the platform to give the true "train watching" experience at Spiez. Those yellow ballast wagons need weathering!

Really nice layout and video! Commentary well paced and easy to listen too. Music not at all distracting. Your 15 years plus 30 hours making this video are much appreciated Geraint. Kind regards, Peter

A bit more progress has been made with the backscene. The track is Code 100 because my HAG Classic SBB Cargo Eem 923 rumbles along too noisily on Code 75! Peter

Mix a little real earth with white glue and plant dabs of it in your fields with a toothpick.... alternatively use use a little brown ballast. your layout is coming on well. peter

Trains are apparently running through the Base Tunnel again....

Gorgeous! These are N scale. You certainly do not need to be hard on yourself. They look splendid! They add a colourful splash! Pete

Thanks everyone. There will be no wires this time with this catenary set up. Working on tidying it all up today between the BLS track maintenance gang going about there duties...

Thanks Craig! I know you want me to erect catenary wires, and so do I if truth be told, but this time I might give them a miss. Trying to convince myself that the wires are invisible in real life is something I am grappling with! In N scale I may have an excuse but in HO.... Pete

A bit more work has been done in the garage (hence poor light) to add some vegetation to the wall, add line numbers to the catenary etc. I am increasing thinking of not adding the wires this time. Whilst the lattice masts and headspan look OK I do not think laser cut card structures are sufficiently robust to take wires. I might revert to metal ones that screw firmly into the baseboard at some stage. Taking photos of a project is a great way to notice faults that need to be remedied. Niesen mountain has appeared! Peter

A laser cut halt from Faller, farmhouse plastic kit from Kibri and lineside laser cut kit by Swiss Model Rail.

It is finished. Does not look that different. Nice and tidy though. there is some info about it in the BLS Gazette summer 2020 magazine which I understand is available online. when I visited the station it was basically being used as a storage yard for carriages, EMUs and locos. one of the new Stadler EMUs made an appearance on test. peter

I attach a picture taken at Spiez less than 2 weeks ago. It seems to have become a very nice loco storage depot!