Les1952

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

Some lovelly engines there. I did not realise there was a continental section of the NGS. I might join.

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

Sorry to bump this topic back to the top but I thought it would be best to add my comments in here. I have just purchased a set of 5 pairs of the Easi Shunt couplings. I have found that they do work quite well but there are a few minor niggles that have caused me some concern.

 

1 - The Kato Unitrack magnets do the job very well but I am still finding propelling stock difficult. Even a rake of 8 wagons is causing some difficulty. I am going to add extra weight where I can but this might be difficult.

2 - My Piko BB66000 locomotives have the NEM pockets quite low compared to most stock and this sometimes causes difficulty when the pin drops down and then the locomotive traverses pointwork.

3 - (this might just be me) but the Kato Unitrack magnetic track is having a small affect on the running quality of the locomotive as it rolls over it.

 

Hopefully over time these issues will bed down, but if anyone has any insights into preventing some of these issues I would be most grateful.

 

Thanks

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

P4, at least that is what I'm drawing out the track plan as.

 

Richard

Not a member of CMRC but helping out with Templot

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

Today's Videos

White tram in action.

Combino tram in action. Apologies for the hand-held quality of the videos.

Ah well, back to the workshop. the tramway is still undergoing track cleaning- the trams run perfectly on the railway.......

Les

New toys

The white tram is a Waggon Union 4-axle tram, Tomix in origin, running on a Portram chassis. It tends to crab a little and has already had to have a replacement pantograph (off an Arnold Class 111 body) after losing half of one at Cotgrave- very careless of it...

The big green one is a Hiroshima People Mover or 5-section Siemens Combino. Made by Hodl, it is a Bo-Bo-2 electrically. It is still mostly in the workshop to get pickups and other little problems sorted out. Sods law states it arrived the day after the Cotgrave show, of course.

Videos to follow....

Hi,

 

On Parnhams (copied on Gresby) when the units/locos run onto the short section (which is switched off) they stop with one car/the engine on the short section and the other car/tender/train in the section behind - they don't tend to coast much at Fiddleyard speeds so crossing the section hasn't been a problem. As far as I can remember, there aren't any through-wired N Gauge units (I'm not sure whether this will change when the 142 comes out) but I've not had a problem with the system yet. I try to go for a 2 loco length section to allow for the fly wheels in my class 60s.

 

Hope this helps

 

Simon

Many thanks, Simon. Fiddle yard speeds will be low as to advance trains too fast ends up piling wagons around the loco when they stop in the dead "short" section. Hence my note about matching motor speeds and types.

The disadvantage we have on Parnhams is that the exit points are handraulic rather than trail-through. This means the operator has an incentive to send out both trains in each road one after the other, meaning that 4 consecutive freights with UM power is not uncommon. Using trailing points means no road-switching at the exit so the sequence would be 1-2-3-4-5 rather than 1-1-2-2-3 etc. The matched pair of locos (2 UMs or 2 Farish diesels etc) would be 5 trains apart in the sequence.

To whet the appetite another shot posed on Gresby.

"Cock O'the North" is handbuilt by Pro Models on a modified V2 chassis. When Farish bring out their Peppercorn A2 this will be the only survivor of my present A2 fleet. I'm not sure whether to use it on the express or the parcels yet, though it is lamped for Farndon Road's parcels train. Looking at that pic I'm going to have to re-do the tender side again- the original top lining was too low and my replacement is wonky. At least the other side is OK, though....

Same loco on Farndon Road (layout now sold)

All the very best

Les