mullie

Why the rush?

With some time to kill I took it apart earlier. Seems the problem might be that the gear wheels are simply spinning on their axles so I might need only to remove them to put on some new EM axles and wheels, very strange. It will need a decoder and the wiring needs re channeling so it can't be seen and there is a loose wire that needs a home. Then it will need detailing and weathering. Might make a nice project for a dark night.

The 1960s passenger service has been thrown a lifeline, a W&M Railbus is being trialled in Norfolk. Here it is at Upbech St Mary. And on its return to Drove station. I picked this up 'spares and repair' for around £50, a fraction of what a fully working example would have cost. The motor works but does not drive the wheels, online research suggests it could be a common fault of split gears. As it needs a certain amount of dismantling to convert to EM it seems like a reasonable punt. I have some Gibson DMU wheels which might be the right size, failing that Branchlines might be able to provide something suitable, and according to a thread on here, replacement gears are available from a few sources, might not be too difficult to repair. I have been after one of these for a long time but they fetch a lot of money secondhand, more than I was willing to pay and I don't mind rolling up my sleeves and getting stuck in. After two months or more of etched carriage construction shouldn't seem too daunting. As you can imagine, being still 'narrow gauge' it is posed on the layout, there is a bag of bits with the unit including horns and I need to check for the missing buffer, all easily fixed.

DCC doesn't have to be complicated in my view. I dismissed sound fairly early on as I don't like generic sound (I don't search for generic music), most locos wouldn't have the correct sound files available and as someone who has worked with sound artists across the years, the sound of the locos is just one part of a rich sound canvas, what about everything else? DCC enables you to fine tune motors to get the best out of them, in my case that is some Comet chassis, Bullant bogies (with stay alive) and re gauged ready to run both diesel and steam. That for me is enough. Point and signal control is something I experimented with quite successfully and still have some accessory decoders, my latest layouts are very luddite, using wire in tube for point work. Fortunately our hobby is a broad church so you can do as you wish. Martyn

I think the dead end you refer to is now a through road. London Bridge just wasn't the same without 33s including slim Jim's, DEMUs and the occasional class 73 though it was a lot cleaner. Smoking was allowed on trains in those days and a lot of London still hadn't been cleaned. I think there may have even been WWII bomb damage around Ludgate Hill? I was younger then!

It is really interesting to see how you achieve the effect, thanks for posting. Martyn

Number two daughter has now moved to London. We went to see her for the first time last weekend. After some boring stuff we decided to head to Central London for food and a wander. Her local station is Norwood Junction, even on a Sunday afternoon she didn't bother looking up times as 12 coach trains are every 15 minutes. London seems so much busier than when I lived there during my uni years. We passed through Brockley and New Cross Gate on the way in, my old stops. Here is Norwood Junction. London Bridge has changed out of all recognition and stock wise is nowhere near as interesting in my view. The view from platform 5 has certainly changed.

I'm new to exhibiting so lessons learnt were as follows: The baseboards connect perfectly at home, at the exhibition, there was a very small but perceptible lump in the track where the boards met. I expect good running so that needs looking into. I use luggage connectors with dowels, one of the connectors might need to make a tighter connection. A dry joint I assume, on one of the turnouts meant the alignment where the point blade met the closure rail was out. The J39 tender decided to object to this despite being a very reliable performer normally. The problem was identified by someone watching the layout who kindly pointed it out. I didn't have any track gauges with me. Most locos ran through the track just fine so I got away with it. I had been having problems with the tender draw bar on the Claud, it is my own drawbar not Hornby and the loco is close coupled. I have high standards and it wasn't reliable enough reversing through the point work so again was sidelined. This was easily solved once home. The J15, J70s and J72 ran up to expectations so so there were plenty of locos for such a small layout. Another J15 would be good, really need to get on with converting the second one I bought over a year ago. An E4 kit is on my shopping list for next year. Despite very careful packing some of the S&W couplings went out of alignment, the gauge would have been helpful so will be packed for future shows. Overall the layout performed well and was well received with interest in future bookings. With everything being modified sometimes heavily and a lot of kits, the layout is not as robust as some meaning I don't intend to take the layout out more than a few times each year if invited. Preparing for the show reminded me of my gigging days, that one day may return, making sure everything necessary was checked, packed and rehearsed with provision for dealing with anything unforeseen once there. A cover was built for the fiddle yard so when I needed to leave the layout, locos could be hidden from view. The team operating the layout next to me kindly kept an eye on things, a big thank you to them. The N gauge layout was a model of a long closed station in Ramsgate, very interesting, I had seen photos of the prototype, the layout assumed the station made it into BR days, I was spoken to about some two day shows, in the back of my mind I have an idea to run the layout as steam one day and dieselised the second for variety. The diesel stock will need enlarging, plans are afoot for that. A long and enjoyable day, loads of lessons learnt.

I will now go back in my corner, lamps are something I have yet to get round to! Interestingly no one who has seen the layout has ever commented on the lack of lamps, it is on the list of jobs to do. Great modelling Jay.

I can still remember my wife's alarm when we drove from Essex to Penzance in my 1977 LR station wagon back in 1995. The brake pedal was clamped each night to avoid the build up of air in the system and pumping the brakes when needed. It worked fine until we could get home and they could be sorted. Going down steep hills relying on engine braking was also a new experience for her. Her then car was a fiesta, sadly the Landy went when first daughter was born as there was nowhere to put a child seat and I think I had poured enough money into it over the years. I've since gone soft, need a working heater, demist, and a music system I can hear. Martyn

Jay The locos look great, do the lamps need a bit more toning down or is that the lighting? Would a thin black wash bring out the grain of the wood and the detail on the steps, as you know I'm a big fan of thin washes using artists ink thinned with water. Just an observation. Martyn

The layout is back together and a number of small issues dealt with. Meanwhile a tram runs across the Quay on a passenger service.

Sorry Dave, the third photo caption is a repeat of the first, it is clearly a class 40 (or type 4 in this guise) Great photos as usual, hope you are ok. Martyn

The book is great, it is a fascinating line, enjoy.

If you would like the layout I'm sure that can be arranged. I would like to take this part of the layout out in public, it has only ever been seen in a virtual exhibition. Many thanks Martyn

I should have said that I was asked for layout details by a few people about attending other shows. I have produced a small flyer that outlines layout footprint etc and my contact details, makes things much easier.

The rain washes down the road at quite a rate when it is heavy, downhill again. Occasionally a drain outside the garage door gets blocked if I don't keep an eye on it, at this time of year leaves blow off the trees on the cricket pitch over the road. To relieve what is quite a boring post I'll just place this here.

I for one would like to see the stencilling process if that is possible. Martyn

Now returned from the Poole show, a good day, the layout largely behaved itself and ran well. A lot of lessons were learnt as the layout was run much more intensively than the SWAG day which was more of a social occasion as it was the first post covid SWAG. Here is the layout set up. A tram goes about its business.

Put yourself first, your health is the priority. Great photos as usual. Best wishes Martyn

Upbech Drove, a small ( 5Ft 6 X 1ft) East Anglian branch line in EM will be at the exhibition. The layout will be running in early 50s guise. More info on the layout can be found in the link below.

Stock is packed. Photos a bit dingy, they are so I can remember where everything goes when re packing. The Mario Cart is loaded ready for an early start to Poole, the layouts first non SWAG showing. If any RM Webbers come along please say hello.

Thanks Tony, much appreciated. Martyn

I'm very much a lurker on here slowly plugging away with my small EM layout . I'm currently building a pair of Eveleigh Creation Great Eastern six wheel brake thirds. The bodies are pretty much complete and I am moving on to the chassis, an enjoyable build. Here is progress so far. Hope no one minds me posting as I wonder if anyone can help, I've managed to get most parts I need but have drawn a blank at Great Eastern Carriage buffers, does anyone make them in oo gauge? I think I've tried all the regular sources I can think of and so far drawn a blank. Any help gratefully received. Martyn

Preparations for the Poole show are underway. Stock is having the couplings checked, the gauge is checking height on both locos and stock. The wagon is acting as a master, all wagons have to couple and uncouple easily. Back to backs have been checked where necessary. The layout is currently being set up in the garage so everything can be checked. Being Portland this isn't straightforward as the garage has a slope from front to back and side to side so levelling has taken some time.