Les1952

Areas for improvement started... The fence of the corner garden has gone in, and the garden building is under construction. There is a table to go in with benches, a few bushy plants and some people when I find where I put them. Loco slogging into sight is my new Fairburn before I gave up and sent it back to Hattons to ask fror one that runs without wobbling. What to do with a spare seagull? Colour its wings with black dry-brushed paint and now we have a kestrel setting off from the chimney top where it has been keeping an eye on things. Anyone who tells me a kestrel doesn't take off like that from a chimney pot will be told a stray seagull has become a little dirty with all that perching..... Plenty to do. All the very best Les

2014 first update The layout is now back to horizontal, having stood on its end in a corner of the workshop since Model Rail Live. That was a good show from my point of view, only being just over a mile from home meant that we were home, unpacked and drinking tea by twenty-five minutes after the show closed- new in-the-car record of 12 mins! Won't manage that again..... Downside was that the lighting strip has failed- the coax on the end of the strip took a knock at Grantham and it proved fatal half-way through day 2 of Model rail Live. Fortunately there is a spare strip so next week that needs fitting and checking before Sileby in three weeks time. Also- the head of the signal by the tunnel has been damaged- not fatally but will need a bit of delicacy to repair it. As well as that, I'm using some of the bits from the Faller allotment kits I bought for Hawthorn Dene to put in the end of a garden in the corner by the tunnel entrance- there is a triangular area there that is basically just grass. A summerhouse, patio set, railings and figures will make that more interesting. Largely a case of using bits that are either too Germanic or too posh for County Durham allotments in the sixties....... A couple of cats and dogs may find their way into the town, and some grass clumps will improve the strip along the front of the railway. Meanwhile, a cruelly enlarged close-up of the improvements in the shed area made before the last outing. Yes, that is another P.D.Marsh bike- the Faller ones I got are on the bike rack on Hawthorn Dene as they look less substantial. The Fat Controller is visiting, and that Graham Farish fireman is still shovelling- he'd have had an easier life if he'd stayed on the loco he fell off...... Plenty of little odds and ends to do. All the very best les

True, but a lot of the preserved WD saddletanks aren't J94s either, despite BR crests and numbers on the side. If the prototype isn't always correct what chance have we when describing a model of it?......... All the best Les (another one who doesn't like them misdescribed- especially when getting it wrong himself!)

Another quiet day I've spent much of Saturday trying and failing to get the 4-car DMU power car sit lower on the new chassis- the set has Bachfar chassis under the two end cars and Poole chassis under the middle two cars- which would be OK if there was enough clearance inside an old Class 101 body for the works to fit in properly. Why this combination- I need the guards compartment in the second car A four-car set is DMCL, TBS, TSL, DMBS- which is what I have. One answer would be to get a BachFar DTCL body for the power car, but so far I've only got one located in blue- the new chassis for the end cars were purchased without bodies. I'll keep looking, but in the meantime here is a video of it passing the J39/2 on the steel girder train. On scenics little to report- I've tried some textured card as a ground cover between the allotments and the engine shed- given a coat of matt varnish I now wish I'd bought more- it works! Also done are the two sea coal traders with sacks on their bicycles, planted taking a rest just beyond the overbridge. In the end with the overbridge sides being about a foot too tall once I'd got the parapets on, I felt the traders would be better just beyond the bridge. In each case the man glued at the side of the bike makes a triangular base so they didn't fall over when palanted. I've also planted the second row of trees at the baseboard end, and improved the backscene around the holes- all it needs is a Montgolfier or similar to hide the join in backscene panels...... Still more to do, but 3am isn't the time.... All the very best Les

A quiet week, so far Tidying up, and a trip out to Digitrains at Digby to pick up chipped locos (and deliver the Tyne Dock O1 for chipping) means not a lot done on the layout itself. I've managed to spill the six remaining seagulls somewhere in the junk pile, so have been unearthing all sorts of interesting bits while trying to find them. A view showing the colliery railway snaking its way between the house backs and the pigeon lofts. The two V2s back from Digby after chipping- 60884 with outside steampipes and 60880 with a double chimney, both heavily weathered. Sadly 60880 can't pull the skin off a rice pudding. I'll need to work out a suitable short train for the V2s.... What to do with a spare "Lemberg"? The sound-fitted A3 shouldn't be all that long arriving, and is a "Lemberg". Looking back through the allocations to Darlington standing pilot over the years I've found 60075 St Frusquin, with round dome, double chimney and GN tender between 1959 and 1961, and 60051 Blink Bonny with New Type tender, double chimney, banjo dome and blinkers as its final condition. So a little bit of tender swapping, new nameplates and numbers later a pair of Darlington standing pilots (also allocated to Gateshead and/or Heaton at various times) are now available. Blink Bonny heads North and St Frusquin heads South. Plenty still to do. All the best Les

Second meeting in January. Last week the rest of the plaster bandage along the rise to the backscene was done. By this week the stuff had set- heavily cropped view along the layout shows it and also shows the inevitable plaster spillage. Before installing the road to the station overbridge it was necessary to check clearances against the bridge and the platform with the widest item likely to perform on the layout- Geoff's Minitrix 9F. Jim battles the tricky problem of keeping all wheels on the track while checking clearances against the platform end. Trevor has been at it again. This row of buildings was only really decided on last week and he has made them already. The Metropole Cinema next to them is a previous apparation. The Top Valley Town board is now to travel in its own box and as a result buildings can now come well above the top of the backscene here without fear of damage. Another layout in the background- this one is portable and DCC- and in 'Orribly Oversized Gauge.... Having got the bridge approach done the next stage is to get the ground level at the Rise Park end of the layout started- it will be glued down next week after clearances on the bends have been checked. I'm not sure why Alf seems to be praying, though it may have something to do with the fetching shade of loo-paper peach the insulation has come in..... Plenty still to do, but some visual progress this week. All the very best Les

Brassed off yet again- it is OO........ Please Mr Kernow- how about an N-gauge one as well? Les

When I'm feeling daft/masochistic or stopped waiting for glue/paint to dry I might try making one out of plastic- meanwhile I'm trying to make a footpath stile to go at the top of the white steps. Why does superglue always stick your fingers to a piece of plastic six inches from the thing you've applied the glue to? All the very best Les

Trying to see the leeks.... Five leeks planted today but i have a feeling there will be nowhere near the number of leeks in the allotments that there really ought to be. Reason- once I've added them I have great difficulty seeing them. The first two photos will show this- Looking across past Mr Makkem's allotment- Mr Green in the background down to his shirt sleeves and digging, but the leeks to the left of the sweet pea frame are almost impossible to see. They've now been painted Doncaster green so I'm not sure if that will make them better or worse. They're way too long but I think if the right length they'd become completely invisible..... Now spot the row of five leeks.... No leeks in this picture but a pit pony now out to pasture in the small field. Also shows that I've given up on a third strand of wire on the post-and-wire fence and painted the two I've got a mixture of black and rust. At a scale 3" thick plus paint they're overscale but don't look too bad. The posts have been trimmed to the same height relative to the top wire and touched up again. Some bushes installed in front of posts, and a lot more wilderness to go in down the bank. Two of eight lengths of post-and-wire fence made and one painted. Pic shows I've still got to put downpipes on the cottages. No courting couple in the bushes on the bank- the bonking banker is behind a semi-opaque window on Furtwangen Ost and can stay there. I'm still thinking about Doctor Who- now does anyone make Daleks in N? All the very best Les

Fencing continues... I've got the first two strands of the wire fence glued in from the underbridge up to the overbridge. Little chance of getting them exactly parallel as the cord wraps round each post as it passed, being glued to about every fourth one. One more strand above it I think then done and ready to colour. The fencing "wire" is 0.5mm knitting-in elastic, the same as the tramway overhead on Furtwangen Ost. Mr Green and his wheelbarrow have been added to his allotment but no more leeks today as all seven attempts were failures. I've ballasted a bit more of the colliery track, mostly around the shed and the exit to the screening house. Vacuuming on Sunday if the weather is fine- I'm unlikely to get in before then. On the loco front J27 LNER 2389 has been photographed for eBay. Trevor's visitor at the weekend bought "Parnhams" so I now have no need at all for LNER or LMS liveried stock. On the other hand I managed to drop the D11 I was about to photograph damaging its tender coping. It is now more-or-less straight with filler applied. If I can get it good enough it will be sold on after touching up. If notit will go into BR unlined black for Rise Park. All the very best Les

More details in cruel enlargement.. I'm still working inwards from both ends. The second batch of grass tufts has arrived, and I found some more bicycles in the Faller allotment kit. A trip down to Access Models has yielded some styrene strip in two different sizes of square section and some more ground cover. No excuse really to get on except for having to take a Mikado rehearsal on Saturday this week. Starting at the screens end, a bike rack installed in front of the upcast shaft- the foreman's bike is a Raleigh, the others cheap and nasty things made in the workshop. Some touching-up to do here and the fact that the ends of the pit props were hacked rather than sawn shows up- fortunately there are many more to go on the pile yet. Next we seem to have a few sh...hawks, sorry- seagulls around. This one is taking off from the cottage chimney- presumably it can see food on the bank just in front of it. Shows up the join in the Faller guttering I added to the Lilliput Lane cottages. "That nice young man in the end cottage, you know the one who is a telephone engineer" is walking his dog. Dog seems to find the corner of Mr Green's allotment a suitable place to raise its leg. Meanwhile in front the concrete posts for the railway boundary fence are in place, though the "wire" is still to be added. In the background Mr Makkem has three leeks so far growing, and has his bike propped up against the door. Is that a pigeon on Mr Green's roof? No- another sh..eagull. The leeks are single strands from 7-strand layout wire, cut to length and superglued into 0.35mm holes drilled into the surface. They'll be painted later (at least that is my story and I'm sticking to it). Each cut of the wire yields 7 potential leeks of which two (or occasionally three) survive to stand up correctly in the hole. So far nine leeks stuck but not yet painted... Plenty still to be going on with. Les

I'm pushing it with the Lodekka behind the cottages, and a Big Meet would close the screens for the day and, with it, the railway. I do have an Oxford RT in green which would pass for a Bee-Line with the fleetname painted out- I remember their RTs duplicating the Hartlepool CT journeys and being packed (including standing upstairs, all the way down the staircase and on the platform- not all that many fares got collected but it did keep the punters off the West Hartlepool PD2 a couple of minutes behind, and that is what counted. All the very best Les

Very many thanks once again for the compliments, gents. I do have a Get Carter hoarding but was persuaded not to use it as the film is about 10 years out of period. There is a Bridge Over The River Kwai one buried somewhere. The J26 was one of the last in service, going in 1962. It will be weathered almost to anonymity. The J27 appears in several pics in an album I have, so I'll try to weather it to suit. The expresses will be steam hauled- having forked out an arm and a leg for a sound-fitted A3 it would be a shame to use a diesel (though I do remember the 46s at Hartlepool. There are two Met-Camm sets, a 2-car and a 4-car, which has the brake in the right place. This is a Poole body with the two end cars on Chinese chassis. I've got hens and some dogs and seagulls to go on the layout, but still can't find anything that looks like a whippet..... I did think of repainting an RTL or a Leyland coach into black to look like a Lockeys- they also used to do works from Paton & Baldwins at Darlington. If I do, it will sit in the colliery yard somewhere. All the very best Les

A weekend working. What to do when the weather is wet and windy and there are no shows in the area? Spend the weekend in a nice warm shed with the rain persistently beating on the roof and the wind howling through the hen fence. Not that Hawthorn Dene is experiencing weather, it is only really raining flock powder and tiny black ballast..... First loco news. Two more NER types to go off to Wickness Models for chipping when the Paypal balance recovers enough- posed on the layout with the power off. These two are from my Parnhams stock- now redundant as Trevor is selling the layout. These two plus the J25 and K3 already done, plus another J27 still to do are the only ones being repainted into BR colours from LNER for this layout, though I may do a J50 and an Aspinall tank for Top Valley Goods. Of these 65817 is a J27 that spent most of its BR life as a Sunderland engine. It is one that had its centre wheels balanced- I knew those N-Brass wheel balance weights would be used eventually. I've also got to do 65860 some time. 65776 has no balance weights- and round windows, making it definitely a J26. It should have a forward-facing lion on the right-hand side of the tender, but the last two I had both fell apart while I was trying to do this loco- I may correct it at some time or just not bother..... If a big NER 0-6-0 had round cab front windows it was definitely a J26, if shaped windows and balance weights definitely a J27, if shaped windows and NO balance weights it could be either class..... Moving to the layout, the Pink Pigeon Co's loft has been sited underneath the workshop building, and I've moved the Blackpool hoarding to the right to give a clear sight line in for the birds. I'm toying with the idea of a second hoarding to the right of the Blackpool one (which is now fixed in). Plenty from the coalfield went to Blackpool for their holidays- Select Coaches ran Summer specials from Horden and Wilkinson's ran an express service from quite a large area of South Durham every Saturday and Sunday during the season. Lastly for now Mr Green has his fence around his cree and he and Mr Makkem have their allotments set out in the area with a little edging to do. Mr Whitehead's allotment is next to get its fence- I've had a fresh set of Faller allotments delivered so have more parts- even bicycles in this one- just as I'm nearing finishing the painting of another pack of P.D.Marsh ones.... As always, plenty to do. All the very best Les

And then we grumble about the quality of the new and say things like "it was better in the old days......" Just a thought. Les

Just a note from Mr Simon's dad- the ore wagons will be used on Top Valley & Rise Park as we've found evidence of a rake working on the GC North of Nottingham- they didn't get onto the Durham Coast line AFAIK so won't be used on Hawthorn Dene. When the A5 arrives up here (no hurry) it also will join the Top Valley stud, it isn't going DCC - Simon has done a photographic 3-page essay to go with the O1 to Digitrains when I take it for chipping later this month...... All the very best Les

Some more details done. A couple of pics round the colliery, and a couple of bits at the other end. The colliery ground level is being painted very dark grey and black scatter added before the paint dries. I've found a large number of Faller wood stacks that will be cut to make piles of pit props. There is some other stuff that will fill the area in front of the upcast fan. A view of the screening house roof- an old tank added with duck boarding and railings to allow access to the aerial flight exit when I get it added to the end. First of the stray grass that gets to the top of old buildings added. Still a goodly amount to do- the exit of the conveyor system has a decent frame and I've touched up some of the external framing over the brickwork. Still thinking about what to do with the roof edge- time to look at some high-angle pics to get some inspiration. The area under the elm in the allotment area has become a hen run. There will be another coop with a second run somewhere on the banking near the crees- this will be on the slope- hens don't care about ground not being level..... Lastly Mr Makkem's fence is fully done, with a gate at the back of the cree. The fencing for the green cree is being painted green- GWR-type fencing looks very fetching in Apple Green..... Still plenty to do. All the very best Les

Very many thanks for the votes of confidence- I'll try to deserve them. Not a lot happening at the Colliery end at the moment- a wall going along in front of the backscene and some roof duck boards and railings on the roof of the screening house. New Years Bits. Newark Toyfair only happens once a year on New Years Day, and since it is only just over a mile from home it is always worth a visit. The haul today was modest, a pack of P.D.Marsh ponies, men with wheelbarrows also Marsh, GW Station fencing by Ratio (too tall for most use but I can use a length somewhere), a small packet of coloured flock and an Oxford Diecast Lodekka in red (United welsh but that's the nearest to a United one). With the destination mostly painted out it has been stuck down on the road behind the cottages- from along the backscene you can just about make out the fleetname "United" but not the second word "Welsh", The GPO telephones van has been stuck down as well- the engineer must live in one of the cottages. A trip over to Trevor's yesterday was the reason I got little done- he had an electrical problem on Parnhams that wanted sorting before he shows it off on Saturday. I've scrounged some of the stuff he uses to make cabbages. The first row of them in the first allotment. Still a lot to do. Happy New Year. Les

Cruel Enlargements .... cropped very close to get below the image size limit- thinks, when using the newer camera must stand a little further away...... Some progress yesterday and today, mostly with enhancing small areas (very small in some cases. The allotments haven't had a close-up before. The tree is hiding a blemish (OK a good old-fashioned black paintbrush stripe caused by an unexpected flight out of my dodgy hand). The bushy foliage I thought would make a good cabbage is too big for that but makes nice hedgy-type plants, see later. Continuing anticlockwise round the layout, Ive railed the front edge of the little paddock using the rest of the Faller stuff I used between the houses and the pit railway. Some of the bushy clumps and some of the wild grass clumps hide the superglue holding the fence in place and cover the white patches missed by the paint- need a set of boards across the railway. Another paintbrush accident covered. Touching up the bridge I caught the card stonework round the arch leaving a brick-coloured smear. Lichens are a little too coarse for foliage but if painted with matt varnish after sticking in place they make a suitable foundation for some scatter. Looks less like a christmas tree in real life than in the pic, but needs a touch of brown on parts of the trunk. A few not-cabbages and clumps of tufty grass shoved in cover a multitude of sins- leaving a larger multitude elsewhere to go at.... White steps in place and a board crossing below them- the latter will be tried to see how well it derails trains tomorrow after the paint dries. More non-cabbages in the area at each side. Shows I need to touch up the sides of the board crossing. There were other close-ups but I couldn't crop them down. My next job is studying them to see what horrors they show up that need fixing. All the very best Les

Meanwhile, more pics I've been putting an extra layer of scatter in one or two places today and ballasting a bit more of the colliery. Probable day off tomorrow so the vacuum can run over the layout on Sunday and we'll see what the damage is. Meanwhile pics of the hawthorn end of the layout. In the corner the ash tree makes the little paddock area look more like something. Post and wire fence along the railway side, and maybe a single nag grazing- if I can find a dilapidated pony rather than a carthorse. Moving on, still work to do between the paddock and the houses. Someone has left their bike carefully obscuring the Lilliput Lane sign. Full row of houses with a lot still to do, though the fencing behind them is advancing. Bushes along here later and still a goodly bit of colouring to finish. The big cree has found its final resting place- top of the bank of course- and been stuck down. Below it the cinder path is too dark but Mr Makkem's boundary fencing has started to appear. Allotments 1 and 2 have been marked out and shedded. Plants still to do. The ash tree in the allotment is hiding a bad blemish (self-inflicted) on the backscene. More allotments to make in the space to the right of the first pair and around each pigeon cree. Still a lot to do. Les

Hello again. The three TMS routes were- Horden Station - Peterlee - Acre Rigg - Horden Colliery - Easington Village, Horden Station -Peterlee - Dene House - Horden Stores - Easington Village. Horden Victoria Club - Acre Rigg - Dene House - Peterlee Manor Way. http://galleries.trimdon.net/photo-gallery-index-page/trimdon-motor-services/ Hopefully this link to a TMS ford bus on one of the services will work. The Manor Way service was claimed to be the first one-mam-operated bus in County Durham, but I can't vouch for how accurate that is. The routes were sold to Untited in mid 1961. Les PS it goes to the contact sheet- the Ford is the top left image.....

Very many thanks fior that- it does indeed help. I think the 83 would be an amalgam of the routes that Trimdon Moror Services ran in the Peterlee area until 1961, when they passed them to United. The three routes all started at Horden Stores and made their way by devious means to Easington Village, all passing through Acre Rigg at one point but different places in between. TMS bought six uncomfortable Ford buses in 1960 for the routes but had sold them all on by the end of 1962, replacing some with coaches on the longer routes. Mr Simon spends Boxing Day with friends so I've been in the workshop getting on with some details. First is the bridge- it now has its railings. The prototype has six sections but they run the whole length of the parapet. I decided that six plus a short one would look silly- it was easier to cut every other stanchion from the Faller railings and leave it a little short at both ends. Cruel enlargement shows I got some of the concrete colour on the brick- touching up needed here. The clump grass down the side of the embankment is an improvement, but I need an awful lot more. Another cruel enlargement. The screening house is getting a few embellishments- the duckboards over the roof with another section of Faller railing and some thin balsa, a ladder from a ratio chimney kit and the steps and platform from an old Pola colliery kit that is dying of plastic fatigue. Another stairway from this has been laid down the embankment below the coal drops and painted white. There isn't enough of a cutting to put steps up the other side. I've also been working the area at the back of the houses but that picture didn't come out. Better luck next time. Time to go and list some more on eBay to pay for all this..... Les edit- funny how you think you've improved your typing and find you haven't. I typed screening houes then used edit to change it to screening houese before having a third go ad getting it right (I hope.....)

I thought that was the baby Deltic! Either way a reason to buy a J94 to pull it..... Merry Christmas Les

Yes please if you can find the details for the transfers- though Fox appear to do transfers for NCB Hetton (I'm not sure if they cover South Hetton and will have to go back to my slides to look). I remember Northern's Routemasters well, trying to time journeys from Darlington to Durham to get a Routemaster on the 46 rather than a Lodekka. Similarly being in hope at Durham that the bus up to Gilesgate Moor on the 57 would be a blue PD3 rather than an Atlantean or a Lodekka- that was the 57 route. The 41 (241 by the time I was travelling from home in Hartlepool to my mate's in Durham) was a b-slow through route. I used to try to get the Trimdon if possible- more direct despite the grand tour of the Trimdons and much faster. All the very best for the Festive Season. Les

Thanks for that- it will be a red Lodekka hiding behind the cottages, then. West Hartlepool depot had quite a collection of them. I suspect the 16 tonners on coal were standard 16 ton minerals- there is a rake of assorted 16-tonners (wood and steel) on the layout, and I'll load a mix of hoppers and 16-tonners through the screens. Ore wagons were 24-tonners with no doors specially for ore traffic. They were unloaded by tipping them upside down (or at least beyond sideways). They were common in the East Midlands, so will be used on Rise Park. No animals in front of the railway, then. I would have had to buy some. A bare field isn't quite right there- I'll need to think about it again. Still, this area is likely to be the last one done to save me breaking it by leaning over to do the back. All the very best Les