Les1952

Am I alone when looking at the CAD to think that Heljan and Hattons may have missed a trick? Partly this comes of spending some time at two shows last year drooling over a pair of O-gauge A4s with digital sound and synchronised smoke drifting through a shed yard...... The speaker for the digital sound has been placed under the chimney- presumably to concentrate the sound in the right place. Could it not have been fitted either further back down the boiler of even in the bottom of the firebox leaving room for a substantial synchronised smoke unit? A Beyer-Garrett with sound and decent smoke, now there's a prospect in OO. All the best Les

More toys the visit a few weeks ago to the NGS Worldwide Group show at Retford produced a trio of 2-10-0s (partly on the basis of do one up to sell and keep the other pair). The one for doing up was past hope of repair unfortunately. This is the second worst- a suitably grotty Roco class 44. I had one of these several years ago when they first came out but it was sold when I changed scale. A more recent one by Minitrix proved too poor a runner so it was sold cheaply. Of course a Class 44 is far too heavy for the Bregtalbahn so it won't come out to play at exhibitions. It has taken me about 3 days tweaking to get it running as new- a sentimental item to spend much of its life in the showcase. Never mind........ postscript- thinks, that wall behind needs sorting, where it was cut back for clearance really shows up. A touch of weathering needed in the imminent future.....

Hardly started..... Wendy had one set of points in stock (SL396 nedium left insulfrog code 80) so have ordered 7 more lefts and eight rights to go with it. Union Mills do a D20, J25, J26 and J27 in N, together with a J39. Farish have just brought out a WD, which apparently is "on the boat". I've heard some rather poor reports of its haulage capacity, so one only of these to start with until I've had chance to see for myself.- really I'll need a pair. I also have a G5 converted from an M7, which just needs me to pluck up courage to move its dome. No Q6 unfortunately- the 2mm one looks nice but building it is beyond me and the only professional builder I know (David Temple) won't touch 2mm finescale. All the very best Les

VERY nice and very ambitious. What part of the country are you located in? Les (Bingham MRC)

Almost a month off but some progress to report... I managed to find the coal drops this morning, and discovered I'd not glued the three sections together very well (whew). They are now separate and can be built in left-handed format as shown below. Tomorrow to Wendy's to order 8 pairs of left-hand and eight pairs of right-hand medium insulfrog points for the fiddle yard. Converting them to trailing points is a job for Mr Simon before he moves out. Half are for Hawthorn Dene and the others for Rise Park & Top Valley (the Newark N-gauge lot's new layout). They'll buy another 8 pairs of each in mid August. That is the pointwork for the two fiddle yards which are identical except for RP&TV's being 2 feet longer. Still on course for baseboard building to start in September.....

Incline almost done Not a lot of modelling done in the last month- exam marking has been a little frenetic this year. However a few chances to escape to the workshop have resulted in the relaid incline being almost grassed, and both Combinos tweaked so they cope with the gradients and tight turns. The bare incline. Note that I've replaced the N-Brass masts with more substantial Sommerfeldt ones. Next job is to get some overhead wires sorted. Erfurt Combino on the new ramp. This is actually a single-ended car, but I'll keep it with the doors towards the viewer - fortunately both ends of a Combino are outwardly idfentical- on the model even to the extent of having a control desk at the back- presumably for shunting. This is the rear of the car....

The Hiroshima set was secondhand and is a lot less smooth in operation than the Erfurt one, which set me back nearly £170 of my PayPal balance- the Bambino isn't that much less expensive so it will be a few months before I can get one- hopefully in time for the next exhibition outing in October. They don't do a seven-section Freiburg car- yet. A 7-section car will just fit the passing loop and the dead sections in the fiddle yard- anything longer hasn't a chance. I may yet thin out the Modemo cars- the more track-sensitive of the two silver and blue cars can help fund the Bambino. What got cropped out of the lower picture was the rake of part-weathered 21-ton hopper wagons intended for Hawthorn Dene Colliery which are being stored in the station because I keep burying them on the workbench....... All the very best. Les

Latest addition Direct from Linea8 in Germany comes a genuine German Combino car- 5 section. In Erfurt livery (which is the same colurs as Freiburg's but applied differently). They allso do the 3-section Bambino in the same livery. When the PayPal balance recovers enough I'll add one of those to the fleet also. Slightly out of focus but it show the differences between the Combino and the Hiroshima Green Mover. The latter still needs making a little more European, as does the 2-section 8-wheel car (the white and blue one). All of the Modemo cars have now been fitted with GPS domes at one end- this is to show which way round they run best- the GPS dome is at the downhill end when standing in the fiddle yard. Meanwhile re-grassing the incline continues- pics when done.

Bits arriving I've devised a plan of the utmost simplicity for the Hennebique-style screening house- to do it wall by wall. What has been holding me back was windows- then I saw these. Not totally correct but near enough, especially if the single rows are used horizontally in certain bays. Next step is to build a trial wall section. Progress on the 0-6-0ST is negligible, though a new pack of handrail knobs for this and a Union Mills J26 arrived yesterday. Exam marking season again, and work needing to be done on Furtwangen ost. Still I have plenty to get on with...........

Back from Upton Hall... and time to relay the incline. The problem is that the Combino tram doesn't like the change of gradient at the top, and comes off. A bit like the new Blackpool trams and sand at Fleetwood........ So, having found that I have actually got three short straights that add up to the long one on the incline I've lifted the incline, Messy, isn't it! I've relaid it with the three short pieces replacing the longer ones, packed appropriately. and it only now needs about 3 days worth of re-grassing the slope. I've also loosened the ballast at the end of the station between the back-to-back pair of points and packed one side to remove the worst of the dips. I've had chance to do some historical digging and found that Furtwangen actually had a railway until 1972. More on this later as it changes the "might-have-been" scenario a little.

As promised- window boxes. Hello again. Waiting until the light levels in the workshop were uniform enough for the camera to get the idea of what I wanted to take, here they are (or some of them). Now hopefully the lady who saw the layout the other week at Cotgrave and is coming to Upton Hall to see it again (glutton for punishment) will be satisfied. I drew the line at putting them on the factory- mostly because I couldn't decide which were the office buildings. This one won't be staying- it runs nicely but the valve gear fouls the platform so it is off to eBay when my PayPal balance next needs a top-up. The 2-6-0T that I stripped down is totally dead- the motor bearings have siezed beyond the ability of oil to free. I'll keep my eye out for a replacement motor, though I'm not confident. In the meantime the motor is out and it is a free-running double-header. Only four days now before the layout goes to Upton hall. Time to get on... Les

The bus off my shelf I think is actually a Hino of some description. It is lettered up in Japanese rather than Chinese. It is a Tomytec that was bundled together with a Setra coach of German origin on sale at Lincoln toyfair. I wanted the Setra for Furtwangen Ost and the other one didn't fit either that or Hawthorn Dene Colliery (too new). If it is unsuitable for Gresby it will be disposed of at some stage.... Les

Many thanks for that- it is actually the Worldwide Area Group. Like most NGS Area Groups they charge an extra subscription (basic £5, more if you want the newsletters by post rather than electronically). There is a website at www.ngauge-wwg.org.uk . Happy hunting. I'm going to explore it this evening. Les

Getting going. Still thinking about how I'm going to fit the landsale depot in, but not desperate as I've got a few weeks yet before the shed is completely available. Meanwhile, a Dean Sidings GWR 1701 tank will keep me busy- especially as I intend to give it an overall cab. I'll put up pictures as it progresses. Les

the other end of the train.. Another purchase from the AGM. It can alternate on the vintage train with the 4-4-0 and the Glaskastern, with the BR86 or the Prussian 4-6-4T as spare engine. Again from the AGM, this one did just under a lap and stopped dead with a nasty smell from inside. I'll strip it down tomorrow.

Three weeks off and... the layout got left standing on end in the workshop to allow Mr Simon unhindered access to Gresby. Now the N-gauge Society AGM is over it is time to get the dust sheets off and get ready for three days on show at Upton Hall. Disaster- it had been knocked. No pic but the gateway was hanging on by a small thread and the tram poles and people in front of it poleaxed. The poleaxed poles straightened easily, but the people and gate too a bit more getting into place. Much of the rest of the morning spent getting flowers into window boxes. 23 done so far, with about as many still to do. Also done, two shrub tubs. At the AGM I was able to raid the NGS shop for some more appropriate (and other) steam stock. At last I've found a pair of 3-axle Umbauwagen- why do people always seem to have them on sale as singletons when they ran (like GWR B-sets) as close-coupled pairs? Also joined the NGS Worldwide group. Next post- new engines and MAYBE pics of the window boxes.... Time to do something else, the workshop is now too hot to work in. Les

It is in the car, and the springs (just about) still bend the right way...... Les (the chauffeur) Just as well Cotgrave is only twelve miles from here.

Just unveiled or on sale? If the latter I'll bring some 2-part epoxy and a 21-tonner or two..... All the very best Les

I came to these after having used Kadee couplers on US- and Uk-outline stock in HO and OO respectively, and Microtrains on US-outline in N. To put some context to your list- 1. US-outline stock is weighted. I'm going to use the easi-shunt couplers on part of my new project Hawthorn Dene Colliery, but am not going to fit them to unweighted Farish wagons, just to the heavier Dapol and whitemetal ones. 2. The pin can be moved up and down in the coupling- both Kadee and Microtrains have height gauges and expect you to use them to adjust the trip pin height for best effect. Drooping couplers also happen on very long unsupported arms- I still haven't eradicated this one completely on Furtwangen Ost. 3- probably isn't just you- if there is ferrous metal in any quantity in the loco chassis the magnets will attract them and slow them down as they pass over. As an aside the biggest Kadee magnets can attract a Bachmann 8-plank wagon from a distance of three feet, which was one factor in my return to N-gauge........ This is due to ferrous axles. All the very best Les

Slight realignment imminent I've looked at the coal drops I have for the landsale yard- they are Lyddle End ones to be upgraded- and I've discovered they are the opposite hand to the plan. A new version incorporating this change will be made over the weekend- hopefully it will be posted on Monday. Meanwhile another prototype pic, Shotton Colliery not long before it closed. The modern additions are a little too modern for my colliery. However the general level of grot in the yard is going to be interesting to make. Behind me and on the opposite side of the road the railtops disappeared below the surface of the mud...... All the very best Les

That sounds brave- does that mean you have several acres available, or that you are only going to recreate a comparatively small part of it? All the very best Les

What an interesting topic for a layout. There is a book on the Skinningrove Ironworks and its loco fleet, which sod's law says I'm completely unable to lay my hand on. I seem to remember however that it had a trackplan and an OS map extract in it. When I find it I'll post the details (don't hold your breath). I also seem to recall pics in one of the magazines- try contacting Railway Bylines as the most obvious one. You haven't stated a scale so I presume it will be OO..... All the very best Les

Here's one I photographed earlier.... OK so it is the wrong side of the Tyne, and a prototype photo, but it shows the sort of building I'm looking to make for the screening house. This is Eccles Colliery at Backworth in 1973. I do have better pics of these screens but not taken by me . I am looking for this level of dilapidation. The loco is right for the NE- a Stephenson & Hawthorn "Thomas" class, now standing derelict in the open at Marley Hill, waiting a sugar daddy to pay for restoration. All I've got to do is manage to build it. Back to the marking- got to pay for it somehow......... Les

Many thanks for the compliment, Simon, even before I've started actually building it. Until Gresby makes its debut there just isn't room in the workshop to begin. Hence the unusually (for me) long planning period. Furtwangen Ost was conceived, built (less of the planned) and exhibited within a space of just over 6 months. This one is to be a 2-year build, or thereabouts. I'm hoping it will make the exhibition circuit at about the time Trevor Webster retires Stamford East and Whatton Parva. Furtwangen Ost will have done 2-3 seasons by then and local punters will be tired of it. Meanwhile there are hoppers to rebuild, a lot of stock from Farndon Road to dispose of, and I need to have a go at making a Hennebique screening house.... All the best Les

Thinking continues.. Still doing a lot of thinking- the pair of Farish headstocks I bought some time ago are both going onto eBay, they are just not good enough. There is a nice set of pics in the current Railway Modeller of Old Foston Mills in 7mm. The Hennebique style building is what I'm looking to make for the screening house- it won't be square as it hides the two roads passing through the backscene. Empties will be propelled past the screens up the hill to the empties sidings offscene, (then let down into the back of the screens by gravity but that is also offscene). Fulls emerge from both roads of the screens and are collected by the colliery pilot, weighed and either taken down the bank to the exchenge sidings, back up the bank to Hawthorn Cokeworks to the North West, or positioned over the coal drops for landsale. Meanwhile another appetite whetter- Again posed on Gresby- the J25 part-way through upgrading. The big LNER group Standard tender has been sold on eBay and replaced by a Midland type direct from Union Mills. I've extended the coal rails round the back of the tender to make it look more North Eastern. I've yet to glaze the cab or add crew. The prototype for separate handrails, a J26 that is currently without a tender at all, is currently in the workshop. I'm grinding and sanding the moulded-on handrails off when I feel i can be bothered. I have a feeling it will take some time..... Also in the workshop is a Mill lane sidings GWR open-cab saddletank kit to be built as a closed-can type. I'll get that started next week, though I'm coming into my main summer work period. All the best Les