Les1952

Progressing Slowly I took the timber for the proscenium into the club yesterday morning and Jim and I got much of it built. there's another one just like it in the shed........ I've got to get some panel pins to support the glue holding the fascia on. I'll also get some wood primer while I'm out- hopefully there is a spray-on variety. All the fixtures and fittings are sourced, so next week we join the two halves together and get the hinges working properly, together with the locking system at the back of it. Then finsih painting it black and fit it to the layout. Meanwhile Boyes have run out of black cloth for the drape- it needs 5 metres of the stuff- but should have some in about two weeks. I've also got to make a system for hanging the nameboard on the proscenium and source an extension jack lead. Still a lot to do, but the end of the making period is in sight... Les

Let chaos rule... ---or so it has seemed for most of this morning. I had two packages arrive in the last couple of days, both from Plaza japan. Monday's contained a Tomytec LRT-02 chassis to motorise the "two rooms and a bath" car. Yesterday's contained a set of radius 103mm wide-base tram curves and a set of radius 140mm. So, off to work dismantling the bottom end. Now, this SHOULD have been easy, except for discovering a track pin (big Hornby type) immediately below the Kaufhaus store in the back corner. So, the corner bridges and the steps had to come off. Fortunately they came off in one piece with very little damage- they SHOULD go back fairly easily. Looks like a bomb has hit it- reminds me of the peace studies bit I did with exchange students at Bertholdsbrunnen in Freiberg a few years ago, I got them to stand on the pavement looking over towards the Dom and after they had said "it's nothing special" showed them a post-air raid pic from WW2, just a tram passing heaps of rubble. Then after the usual inane comment about the Luftwaffe it was time to point out it was actually flattened by the RAF. Pupils stunned into silence...... A little less bad now the new track is laid- and should be a sight easier to keep clean. No problems with testing, so onwards and upwards. Next it was time to move to the top end. Not quite so difficult to dismantle, or so it seemed. the archway house came off fairly easily. First problem- the groove in the balsa ground level was narrow track width, and had to be widened to take the wide tram track. Chaos rules again. Widened out to take thenew track- but why won't it go together? Answer- taking it apart has damaged the top straight piece on the incline. So out that has had to come also, but the end house now has a damaged roof- dyspraxia dictates that a stanley knife can fall out of my hands quite easily. One more house to repair.... Piece of track removed- you can see the bit that has broken off - it is the tongue off the old curved segment glued firmly where the tongue of the NEW curved segment should fit..... Next thing- do I have another piece that size? NO. Various panics, a cup of tea and a visit to Plaza Japan's website to see how much extra EMS postage costs over SAL....... Then a brainwave- is there one on the back? Not only is there one but there are two together making up for a piece doulbe the length. Have I a spare piece double the length? Yes. Only problem is the power feed to the track is soldered to one of them. Out with soldering iron and longer piece exchanged for two short ones. Top curve relaid. Now what can go wrong? Answer, the new top corner is laid correctly and the old one used pieces of the same geometry but with a bit of a dog-leg on the bend. The result was that the curve was wide to radius where it passed through the backscene. The new curve of course is exactly ON the currect radius, so the trams now foul the inside of the hole where they pass through. More work for Stan the knife. However, testing with the four tram types now in the fleet shows that they all run slowly and smoothly round the top bend. Now all I've got to do is to fail to get glue on the track while putting the scenery back together.... Just as well it will be a week before I can do very much more on Hawthorn Dene..... Time for a quick nervous breakdown...... Les

Am I right in assuming that neither Bachmann nor Hornby has done 60030 GOLDEN FLEECE? If so, what an omission........ Les (who does have 60030 GOLDEN FLEECE, but in N)

Of course the 61xx prairie is overdue for new models in both OO and N. One GWR loco I MIGHT be tempted by...... Les

The tower site Things have mostly stalled while I'm waiting for track (and a tram chassis) to arrive from Japan. Plenty of time yet. I'm not going to lift any track until the replacement arrives, just in case it is coming on the slow boat...... All the very best Les

Paint and engines, though not necessarily in that order. I've been getting on with painting the frame and sorting out the design for the proscenium. Since Trevor isn't very well at the moment I'm going to build the proscenium myself, with the able assistance of engineer Alf at the railway club. Today I got the plywood cut for the fascia boards (and the top and fascia of layout three (provisionally named Northern Shed, but that isn't due to start until late September- watch this forum....), and bought a load of timber, and hinges and a countersink tool, together with a cheap jigsaw. No use buying an expensive one, I can injure myself just as easily with a cheapo... New locos meet up at the lineside hut- showing a section of the newly painted black front edge. Going in closer, 60070 GLADIATEUR has been weathered above the footplate to full Gateshead Grot, or something approaching it. Just the oily brown to apply to the motion and wheels, and the smokebox to blacken to make one of Gateshead's finest... This one will take turn about on fast goods with the V2s, A2/2 and one of the B1s. Coming the other way is KOYLI D9002, which needs its axleboxes toning down, and possibly its yellow panel painting out. If I can remove the name cleanly I'll change the identity, though it is intended as a reserve rather than a regular runner. 60078 NIGHT HAWK, another of Gateshead's finest- though pictures exist showing her to be a bit cleaner than most. Perhaps occasional runs on the Talisman helped. Either way I'll only weather this one lightly and use it on the Sunderland to Kings Cross express. Lots do do, including working out whether I've bought the right screws to make the proscenium. All the very best Les

Given the choice, I'd rather have the V1/V3, though a number of J50s did find their way to Darlington shed for a time, moved on because the shorter wheelbase of the J94 made them more useful in and around the works. Still hoping for an NER prototype (beyond the J72) from someone.... All the very best Les

Just looking at a few drawings, there are a lot of commonalities (as might be expected) between the N2 0-6-2T and the V1/V3 2-6-2T, neither of which have been done in N and both long in the tooth in OO. Both saw service in London and Glasgow with a good spread in between, and both are suitable for smaller layouts. They also share a wheelbase with the J50 0-6-0T, another not available currently in any scale. All the very best Les

None, but I model in N. I do however have five A4s..... (and eleven A3s).. (and an A2/2)... and three A1s..... All the very best Les

Enjoy the break, and the 648 extra items added to the wishlist while you're away..... Now where are those plans of Bouch's Stockton & Darlington passenger engines..... Les

Great Central Event and since An enjoyable three days, with only one or two problems- When they brought the electric supply to the layouts in the middle they started at the South end- and we were at the North Pole, so no testing until the morning of the show- and a wire had been dragged off again which it was too late to repair- no signals again Loading the car to go gome the tower got bashed and is now in several bits awaiting repair. Fortunately it came apart along the glue lines. Views of the layout in situ and of things happening. Geoff Warren is the operator in the picture. The team consisted of myself, Ian Dodds and Geoff, with Chris Burch substituting for Geoff on Friday. On Saturday and Sunday the Modemo trams did most of the running- the two Combinos had a troublesome weekend while the little Tomix car was kept as spare. On the railway the diesels did the work, with the vintage train being a railcar. the broken tower. I've lifted it off the layout entirely while it is stuck back together, and am taking the opportunity to replace the tram track under it with the latest type. Assuming the new parts come in plenty of time I'll also do the top curve before RMWeb Live, but I won't dismantle this until the track pieces arrive from Japan. One thing that did arrive the day after the show finished was one of the new 3-section Tomytec cars. A working chassis for this is also on its way from Japan. Plenty to get on with - like rebuilding a tower.... All the very best Les

External details the totem for the proscenium arch is now made and delivered- at the GCR Steam event Furtwangen was next-but-one from the totem man, so it was easy to work out sizes and get the thing made. Trevor isn't very well at the moment so I'll have to delay getting the proscenium actually built for a little. Meanwhile black paint (gloss) for the frame. Much to do Les

A curved ball this one.. With TINGS and RMWeb Live being on the same weekend, are you going to be able to do both? All the very best Les

More close-ups. A busy few days- first another big batch of essays arrived to be marked, keeping me out of the shed for three days, then Bingham Town fair- and playing trains in Bingham Market to try to attract new members to BMRC- followed by a full day rehearsing in Lincoln on Sunday. This weekend is the GCR bash at Quorn, which will take out Thursday to Sunday. Hopefully I can get a name totem done. This might be the last chance before Grantham in September. I'm still liaising with trevor and Geoff to get the layout over to Whatton for the proscenium to be added. A man and the weighbridge added to the weigh hut- the weighbridge needs the paint finishing. Another bike found on the workbench, now paionted and added to the allotments- most of the allotment owners use their bikes to get there. Another figure leaning up by the pallets near the big tank. Hopefully it isn't a petrol tank if he's going to have a crafty smoke. A safety wall extends out from the end of the screens, just to make you have to try a little harder to get run over by a loaded wagon descending the grade.... A couple of oil drums have been placed beside it. Plenty still to do- another A3 just bought. This one will either be NIGHT HAWK or DICK TURPIN. All the very best Les

One more small addition. With the layout off to Quorn on Thursday for the GCR bash, I thought I'd add a water crane that was attached to the lump of assorted junk I got at the NGS Symposium the other week. Most of the junk (barrels, gantries etc) went into the colliery yard on Hawthorn Dene, together with the figures. However there already is a water crane, so a second one wasn't needed. I've also repaired the wire to the signal that was broken before the last outing so we should be able to run with full signalling. Much still to get on with Les Thinks- must turn the no smoking sign on the shed entrance the right way up.

Greetings. On the O2 thread you mention "what will be my 'Standard' coreless motor". Is this in fact a range of otherwise identical motors in more than one size (which is the way I read it)? A "standard coreless motor" that will fit in an N-gauge Austerity seems a little undersized for a O-gauge Type 2 diesel..... All the very best Les

Thanks for that- BTW the Matador is in "Erie Lackawanna Red", a jar of paint left over from a US project that never really happened.... All the best Les

More details in cruel enlargement Having got rid of most of the exam board stuff- absent from modelling, but WITH leave on the grounds I have to earn money twice a year to supplement my pension- time to add more bits to the layout. I'm still trying to fix a date to take it over to Trevor's for the proscenium to be added. The Sea Coal trader's AEC Matador is now finished (which didn't take long), painted (which took forever), grotted up (which took less than forever) and in position under the bridge. I needed an excuse for it not to be moving- I don't like too much action amongst the figures. Pauses in the action I can cope with. See below... The wagon has stopped and Ernie is lining up the starting handle for another swing while Eric looks on. They could have let the brakes off and just let it run down the slope, except that is how they got this far. Grandad sits on the tailboard and waits. Some more spare piping has given a water supply connecting the screening house with the baths building. Very cruel enlargement. A couple of miners are trying to move a hand truck over the rough ground. More to follow. Les

A loco returns.. 60501 COCK O'THE NORTH back from a service at BR Lines and DCC fitting by Digitrains. Not the smoothest of runners, and since the photograph I've replaced the front Bogie with an older Fairsh one, which seems to keep the loco from random wobbling much better than the scale one does. It will get outings on parcels or fitted freight, the prototype was at York and only rarely saw a passenger train except when they were hard pushed. Significantly Thompson's rebuilds, even as failures by ECML standards, ran 10,000 miles per year MORE than the Western's top link Castles....... Next part of hiding the hole in the backscene- a gantry. This will have rusty pipes routed over it to hide its origins as an oil gantry. It needs a bit of muck applying, also - the sort of muck that neglected stainless steel goes. A stores building to fill some of the spare space at the pit end of the yard. All for now- men to repaint ready to plant. Les

Railbus as promised Actually I've just remembered the layout isn't entirely unscathed - I'd snapped a wire on the underside before I set off, so there was no red aspect on the signal at the tunnel end. Solved by running wit the signals dark- a repair will be carried out in the next couple of days.... As promised the MAN railbus. Right type for the Bregtalbahn but a more modern livery- if the line had remained open after the seventies this combination would surely have been seen. Needs a bit of roof weathering, however..... All the best. Les

Details and Pacifics I'm finally getting round to putting details in the colliery yard. A visit to the N-Gauge Society's Worldwide Group symposium in Retford last weekend with Furtwangen Ost has yielded a piece of ex-layout junk which is currently being stripped and added to Hawthorn Dene. Quite a few workmen waiting to be painted out of their hi-vis, circuit boxes, gas tanks etc- each needing removal, a bit of cleaning, and re-siting. By the drops, a tank for that new-fangled stuff gas. Boxes by the former pit head, bags of coal for the open-hearth fires in these buildings- and the men over the bath building no longer in hi-vis (and the wagon toned down). The gantry needs toning down. In the yard assorted junk appearing, with switch boxes by the buildings. Another secondhand A1. This one has had a chip transplant and now runs very well. Renumbered and renamed as 60116 HAL O'THE WYND, a long standing Heaton resident. This one worked mainly between Newcastle and Edinburgh, but did get used on Leeds services round the coast at times. The plates have arrived, and the A3 seen in the 7th May photo has now beome 60085 MANNA, "Manna from Heaton", photographed at West Hartlepool on parcels and at Sunderland on passenger. Still needs its cab roof painting black to the edges, and a light weathering. One of the other A3s will get full Gateshead grot- around 1960 Heaton's locos were usually a bit cleaner. Lastly another A4. The first model A4 I saw was a Hornby Dublo 3-rail 60030 GOLDEN FLEECE, owned by my good friend Mike. This one (bought new as 60005) is a homage to that model- I don't really care if it didn't find its way round the coast- I have found a pic of it at Eaglescliffe. In this reality it turned right at Norton rather than left for Ferryhill....... Still a lot to do. At least the bulk of the exam-board work is done, though the "tail" of this lasts to September..... All the very best Les

More Rolling Stock Back unscathed from the N-Gauge Society Symposium at Retford, a nice pleasant low-stress day. One railbus and driving trailer added (pic to follow). An eBay purchase that arrived two days after Retford is this- The story is that SWEG are looking for a railcar to order, and have this one on hire from DB. It has replaced the BEMO railcar which will now be sold. Also sold is the SNCF diesel, a loco that hasn't actually been used since new. All the very best Les

No pics but I have one of the crane tanks in my showcase, not being used as I'm currently working in N. It ran as I remember the prototypes running at Doxford, attached to a plate wagon, coupled at the chimney/jib end. Mine is a whitemetal wagon, the purpose of which has been to keep the loco on the track. The problem with is that the wheelbase is less than the gauge. This in turn causes it to derail at frogs, even on finescale track. The heavy wagon, attached with 3-links, kept the loco straight. All the very best Les

Still waiting the move We went to see the new clubroom, or rather inside the building where it is going to be. We've just (!) got to build some internal walls to separate us out from the rest of the building. Time for a quick meanwhile.... Trevor has been busy at home. This is the terrace that runs from the Top valley board towards Rise Park Station (last seen in post 61). TV board isn't in place at the moment. Green stuff is Warhammer, sourced by Jim. Note Hodkin & Son on the left, light engineers, and J.Ross & Co at the right. We're not sure what goes on in that factory, but Trevor will no doubt enlighten us eventually. More when there is some.... All the very best Les

Another newsflash- must remember to shut my eyes when these go off.... Mr Simon will be operating at RMWeb Live. All the very best Les