HSB

From those pictures appears to be 00 rather than H0!

Several weeks since we last posted something but things are slowly progressing and to prove it here's the high-level unloading dock taking shape.

Comparing it with photos of the real thing it looks pretty good to me! The hand grabs on the front are a bit thick but would probably be too fragile on a RTR model if made to scale thickness and will be less obvious in the flesh anyway.

Japanese H0 is actually 1:80.

I was there today and I think the general quality of the layouts this year was very good indeed.

I find it strange that they come with 3-hole disc wheels rather than the spoked wheels these wagons normally had. Overall I think these wagons are a reasonable first effort from PECO although some of the detail is not quite as fine as on the Hornby vehicles (the 'V' hangars are a lot thicker) but they will look fine running on a layout, especially with a bit of weathering.

I have, at last. got round to finishing off the loading ramp. Originally the ramp was going to be part of a larger loading dock with a small goods shed but I have now scrapped that idea.

British TT120, European TT and American TT are all the same scale.

It's only incompatible visually if you want to run British and Continental stuff together as the Continental loading gauge is a lot bigger. Only some Continental ferry wagons are designed to run in the UK. Wheel and track standards are the same.

Yes they were, along with many other gauges.

Only if your modelling 5' gauge!

Now ordered! 👍

This is actually now the NMRA Finescale TT standard. I noticed the other day that Modmueler list some RP25 Code 64 wheels although they don't give the axle length,

I had a look on the Zeuke-TT website and ordered a few freight cars which arrived this morning. No mention of the SW1200 though. I have been tempted by the idea of American TT for a while having moved away from N gauge back in the 80s. Here are the cars I've bought along with a size comparison with a Hornby BR (ex-GWR) van from the same era. The tanker and hopper are by MTB and the other two are by Gold Coast which come without couplings.

I think the most obvious choice for their third 0-6-0 would be a Jinty. Personally I would also like to see a J50 which would go with the larger LNER locos they've produced and, with the large tanks, there's plenty of room for fitting DCC sound.

The last downpipes and ridge tiles have now been painted and glued on. The loading dock has also now been glued in position. The next job will be to decide on the design of the high-level unloading dock above it.

'British Railways Mark 1 Coaches' by Keith Parkin

The main downpipe on the front is now painted and in place with the final one for the rear under construction. The ridge tiles now just need tidying up and painting before they can be glued on and then we'll have to decide on the design for the high-level unloading platform. We won't be doing anything next week as Rod is having visitors.

The slates on the rear of the main roof are now all in place and I'm now working on the ridge tiles.

A little bit more progress with the slates (from York Modelmaking) now stuck on the front part of the main roof.

I added another thin layer of card to the roof this afternoon. Here it is prior to painting the gutters, barge boards and fascias.

Nothing was done on the layout last week as I was away on holiday but this week I have fitted some barge and fascia boards to the brewery roof and today attached some guttering made from Modelu parts. I forgot to pick up my phone when I went round this afternoon so was unable to take a picture but instead here are some pics I took last week on the Swanage Railway.

The basic roof is now in place on the brewery! Here are a couple of shots from the back which will not normally be seen.

While using 2mm wheel standards certainly appeals with wheels a scale 6" wide but, as with all near-scale standards, you will probably need to compensate everything to keep it on the track! Looking at existing finescale standards for 12mm track the 3mm Society Finescale wheels have a width of 1.65 - 1. 75mm while the NMRA specify a Code 71 wheel with a width of 1.8mm. There are, of course, finescale track standards to go with these. The existing NEM standards equate to a NMRA Code 88 in width which I have used in HO on PECO Code 75 track without any problems so I think a 1.8mm wide wheel should work as well in TT120. No doubt people will start screaming 'wheel drop' but I haven't seen any noticeable wheel drop using finer wheels in HO.

I'm afraid many people have a very blinkered approach to whatever scale or gauge they are into. Not something I can understand or sympathise with having modelled in umpteen different scales over the years!