Combe Martin

Yes, I see what you mean, but my problem is I've already laid and wired the track and fitted point motors, I've used the 'new' Peco Bullhead and Peco don't make trap points which means I'd have to make my own, which I've never done before (I didnt want to start learning how to make my own points, I've already got enough to do) or I could buy another point and cut it in half maybe ? but then I'd still have to find room for another point motor and I've had a lot of problem siting these because it seems that (sods law) virtually everywhere a point is located has a piece of baseboard framing right underneath it so I've had to put loads of point motors on top of the baseboard. I've used loads of the (fairly) new Peco slimline 'low level' motors (they work very well and are much quieter than a PL10) and had to devise my own method of attaching them to the points tie bar and laid them away from the point where I can hide them under a building or piece of scenery, and as this is down the far end of the yard just before the curves round to the fiddle yard (the scenic break is going to be about 12 inches further on) I decided I could ignore it.

Yes, it looks like there's something there, but what ?, I think I'm going to have to ignore it as I cant tell what there was there and I hav'nt laid any other trap points. My confusion comes from the article published in Nov 2020 Railway Modeller about The Bailey Gate project of the Blandford Club (which I cut out and saved) that has a picture of the track they'd already laid and which seems to show a point in this position. Mind, they have made another track layout error so this may be one too. This project has gone very quiet for some while, their website shows nothing about BG now (I'm sure there were pictures a while back), but loads of pictures of Spetisbury.

Its amazing how a picture of an obscure detail is of real use to someone ie me ! I assume the first 2 photos were taken on the same day, the 2nd of them has some porters trolleys in it so I'm guessing its before closure, but do you have a date ?, there's plenty of undergrowth on the siding but the grass adjacent to the platform tarmac is short. But, great pictures of the buffer stop, if we can call it so. The 3rd photo, the one of the buffer stop at the end of the long siding is good enough to see its a rail built one, probably just like the 2 at the end of the 2 goods yard sidings. The 4th photo, the colour one of the creamery shows lots of lovely detail, but what's the date ? From all that short green grass it looks before closure but there's no tankers or goods vans !, and I've just noticed ... the chimney that was nearest to the goods yard entrance has disappeared !, there were 2 now there's only 1, so is it post closure ? The last photo showing the Creamery loop/loading bank siding, well it looks like there's maybe a point at the far end leading to a 'catch siding, if I can call it that, or is there just a catch point leading to some sort of buffing 'lump'. I never realised this existed as its out of range in all the published pictures I've seen, and the loop siding isnt on any of the maps either, its too new and they're all too old. As you say, it dosn't look like a buffer stop ! Your drawings are most helpful as just working from photos is much more difficult. Any more that you can finish/do will be much appreciated.

Hello again Phil, many thanks for the offer, but I've got some spare ZTC255 hardwire decoders already. I find them excellent (sockets too that I've never used). I've wired plenty of non DCC locos in the past, just not in the last few years. Yes, the scrolls, I've only moved them once before (on Combe Martin) but I can remember how I did it, I think. Cabside numbers, I've done about 20 in the past but not for a few years, still, I can remember how to do them. Interesting that you've needed to add lead weight to a WC. My Combe Martin has no problem with 8 Mk1s (which was the S&Ds maximum over the Mendips without double heading, I havnt tried it on the new layout with more yet, but there isn't really room in the fiddle yard for a much longer train when I'm running a timetable, but, and as an experiment, rebuild Ottery St Mary belts around with 13 on. Peter.

Hello yes, and based on that Flickr picture I've ordered and received red ones from Fox. All I've got to do now is fit them, move the scrolls up the sides, and renumber it with cabside number transfers and fit the smokebox number plate ! Oh, and hard wire a decoder in (Weymouth is a Wilton era loco, no socket).

I'm not so concerned about how the Creamery siding terminates in that 'cavern' at the far end of the dairy because I have not got space to model all that, I've had to shorten that end of the siding considerably. I'm going to do a facade (is that the right word for it) of that end with the line disappearing into the 'black hole'.

Yes, this is what I suspected but cant find any published pictures at the moment, and i've got every book 'under the sun'

Many thanks for this, and if you have got drawings of any Bailey Gate buildings they'd be most welcome. All I can do at the moment is guess at building dimensions by looking at pictures.

Thats a great photo, better than the colour one I've seen published before and showing detail I've not seen before so many thanks for that, but I'm looking for the buffer stop at the end of that undercover milk siding, so taken from the other direction. Do you have a date for this photo though ?

This thread started by saying that the loco ran perfectly on DC, so surely 'lack of tender pickups' and 'stay alive' are a red herring. The problem has to be the decoder. As the ZTC decoders only come up on EBay very rarely now, I'd fit a Lenz Standard probably having to use a 21 to 8 pin adapter.

I bought a Bachmann 3f years ago (probably when they first came out) . From memory it had a 21 pin socket in the tender ?? I fitted it with a Bachmann 36-554 (I tried it because it was the only one I'd bought and it was spare, I had'nt been impressed with it fitted in any other Bachmann loco id tried it in) , The CV settings I used were CV2=1 , CV3=20 , CV4=0 , CV5=12 , CV29=34 , CV49=1 , CV54=1 , CV55=60 . I'm building a new layout at the moment and its one of the locos I've still got packed away, but from memory its performance was OK with these settings. I'll get it out tomorrow and give it a try again. I'm steam only, no diesels at all. Most of my other decoders are ZTC258 and ZTC 255 and a few Lenz Standard, I regard all 3 types as equal performers. In some Bachmann locos I've had to use a 21 to 8 pin adapter. Oh, and on this 36-554 decoder CV54 is 'Back EMF Low' not 'Autotune'

Some of you may have realised (from posts under other topics) that I'm building a layout of Bailey Gate, condensed/squashed a bit, but its all there. This is not the one being built by the Blandford group, of which there is no information now. Does anyone know, or know of published photos that show, what sort of buffer stops there were ... (1) at the end of the siding behind the down platform (2) at the end of the dairy siding that's near the goods yard entrance (3) at the end of the long up line siding that's before the signal box ?. For 1 & 2 , were they just an old sleeper attached to a concrete wall ? Many thanks, Peter.

Yes, well that's what I thought initially, but when I started clicking on the ordering options it insists you click on the colour box and there's black as well as red !, which is why I started studying the pictures more closely, and the colour ones didn't show the plate as red, but rather either black or dirt. Most WC's, even if they're filthy still seem to show a red plate.

Many thanks for that, its obviously had some sort of clean since September 1962. I was hoping it wasn't going to be black. If it ever was, I hope it was in its much earlier days. This photo shows it in the condition I'm doing it in, having lost its wide tender to a rebuild and acquired a narrow one. I cant bring myself to 'dirty' it like this though.

I'm trying to produce this loco by renumbering & renaming a Hornby 34091 Weymouth. I've already done a tender swop with 34088 213 Squadron (which will become 34028 Eddystone), but I'm having difficulty finding out the background colour of Calstock's nameplate. Is it red or black ? All the colour pictures I've found so far seem to show it dirty, or is that black ?? I've got loads of Southern and Somerset & Dorset picture books, but most pictures are black and white. Does anyone on here know ?

I'm definitely coming, travelling down by train on Friday morning from Ramsgate to Bristol Parkway, afternoon till 7 at the exhibition, hotel for the night, exhibition again on Saturday till about 4 then train home again. Well that's the plan anyway. Looking at the exhibitors list it looks like everything that the Alley Pally exhibition was not, that was a massive disappointment, so I plan to be there for a long time. I've been before, quite a lot of times (but not for quite a while) and always of a Friday, driving down in the morning before it opens and back in the evening, but I don't fancy the drive now (I live even further away now). I'll spend a lot of time watching Templecombe, like I did at Doncaster last year. Peter

I drop a spot of silicone lubricant on the armature (i got it from Wickes when I was replacing the house guttering), that works for me. Its magic stuff, makes all sorts of things slide together !

Many thanks for that. I presume your not referring to a 2mm model.

Has anyone on here managed to successfully motorise semaphore ground signals, and if so what mechanism did you use ?

This is creating as much froth as Kate's operation !

Ah, well many thanks for that.

MMM, the last thing I want to do is change CV's before and after wheel cleaning !

Does anyone sell it in the uk ?

Does anyone have a tip on how to clean loco driving wheels without undoing the coupling rods/valve gear and removing them from the chassis. All locos are DCC fitted.

I've just looked at their website again, there's loads of pictures of Spetisbury, but none of Bailey Gate which suggests they're concentrating on something else. Shame, especially when you consider there was a piece in the model railway press (a couple of pages including photos) about that project, and it didn't look to be condensed (squashed a bit) like mine has to be.