railwayrod

I go back to my younger, and not so younger, days when trying to take a photo of some passing train only to find something (building or otherwise) in the way. I take your point John but we like to see the layout from a position closer to eye level than normal and if you look at most of my photographs they are taken from a lowish level as if we were standing at the line side. Putting the brewery at the rear of the layout would not have been practical without major rebuilding of the layout before the recent alterations took place. At that time I wanted to increase traffic potential to Ramchester and for a long time I debated what industry did I feel appropriate to Ramchester. In the end we settled for a brewery and had to extend the width of the baseboard to accommodate this. It was not possible to build a complete brewery complex so we had to compromise by imagining that the rest of the brewery was "off stage" Having a tall building at the front also helps to form a scenic break making the layout look bigger than it actually is. It also helps to block the view so that the layout cannot be seen in its entirety at a glance; visitors have to move around to see it all. One of our pet "hates" is a flat baseboard and Ramchester is built as if on sloping ground which the railway engineers had to build up to provide a firm foundation for the station resulting in the front lower than the back, hence the need for a retaining wall behind the brewery building and the need for a high level rail connection and loading/unloading facility. Howard has done a fantastic job of the brewery and I am proud to have it on my layout in a prominent position at the front so that visitors can peer into its windows to see the interior details which we have included. Rod

Yesterday my friend Peter Martin popped in to show Howard and I his new loco. This was a Class 25 Helhan diesel which had been sound fitted with a Paul Chette? file but Peter still has to number and weather it. The loco ran very well with a smooth acceleration and the stay alive facility made the driving of it a real pleasure. Once moving and the throttle shut down it was nice to be able to use the F2 key to bring it to a smooth stop. Here are some photos taken of the event for you to see. The Class 26 leans into the approach curve before slowing down for the signal gantry at the entrance into Ramchester. It waits while the driver changes end before getting the signal to move off to where its train awaits. Backing onto its 5 coach train of ex LMS coaches it prepares to leave as the signal is pulled to give him the right of way. A final check and she is ready to go. I was very impressed with this loco and the sound unit was superb giving an atmospheric impression that one was standing by the track side taking it all in. Rod

I have not posted anything on this site for some time but thought I would let you know that her Christmas Day Special did run this year after its absence last year. As usual negotiations with the union paid dividends and the train completed its journey into Ramchester carrying Maggie's gift and of course tucked away in the van was the areas Christmas booze! Here are a few photos of the event. The Christmas Day Special emerges from the tunnel to round the curve into Ramchester. Rounding the final part of the curve at the entrance to the station. And comes to a halt in the goods yard. A Happy New Year to all the followers of this thread. Rod

Hello Alan241 Ramchester has a average curve of 63 inches and I run my Heljan class 37 around this with no problem. I say "average" radius as this 180 degree curve has a transition radius at each end which eases the loco into the turn. My class 47 also gets around this curve with no problem so it would seem that second radius curves are a bit too tight. Hope this is useful to you. Rod Ramchester Chronicles

Glancing back at some of the recent posts I realized that I failed to put some photos on from the visit of Peter C who came down with his latest acquisition a while ago. He had a Lenz model of the DB class 55 together with a breakdown crane. Not only does the loco have full DCC sound but also emits realistic smoke. My photo does not really do the smoke justice but it should convey the idea. The breakdown crane was also fully digitally controlled as he demonstrated to us. What a lovely piece of kit this is. Here are a couple of photos to illustrate the event. To press the shutter at the exact time that smoke was "chuffed" proved to be a bit of a challenge and took several attempts before I managed this. Thank you Peter for bringing these fantastic models down to Ramchester to show me. Rod

Howard's input into the brewery has been excellent and his workmanship has been first class. I am honored that he has used his talents to create such a masterpiece for my layout. He still has the main roof to build and a few oddments to complete but already the model is simply brilliant. Thank you Howard. Rod

Hi Paul. It is sad to say that this years Christmas Special had to be cancelleded owing to industrial action on the part of the rail unions. Even volunteers were banned from running the Special and were threatened with expulsion from the union and the railway. This was the first time in almost 35 years that a Christmas Special in one form or another has not operated.

Maggie and I (and Howard) would like to wish everyone who follows our thread a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, healthy and prosperous 2023. Rod

Hi Ray. The layout is DCC so if I ever restore the second motor I will have to upgrade the decoder. Thanks for reminding me. Simon As always your advice is sound and I am now looking for a replacement brass gear. Rod

Firstly may I say thank you to John, Simon, and Ray for their help and advice which was extremely helpful in gettin to grips with the problem. Your words were a great encouragement to me and it now looks as though my problem has been solved. As Howard indicated above the second non powered bogie still had its gears intact as I discovered when I removed the keeper plate. So I spent most of the afternoon taking this bogie to pieces and removing the gears which I can now keep safe as spares. While in bits I took the opportunity to clean everything before re-assembling the bogie and attaching it back onto the chassis. The whole took longer than anticipated as I did not want to upset the wiring which was not too generous in length which made it rather difficult at times. I did consider simply fitting the motor to this bogie but the wiring was too short to allow this. I have learnt a lot about Heljan locos but have gained a great deal of confidence from this task. My next job will be to fit the motor into its original bogie and reassemble the loco. If all goes well it should be back on the rails very shortly. Keeping fingers crossed. Rod

Can anyone help please. My Heljan class 20 diesel loco has recently lost its drive on one axle which limits its hauling power on my layout. I should add that this loco only has one motor so effectively at the moment it is only driven on one axle - the other motor bogie is free rolling. This has proved to be more than adequate on Ramchester and up till now all was fine. I had a packet of replacement gears which I purchased a few years ago for my class 47 so I thought I could use one of these to replace the "gear" in the class 20. Having eventually managed to disassemble the loco and separated the bogie from the chassis I began to examine the gears to establish which one was cracked. However all appeared to be OK with no sign of any damage. Then almost by accident I discovered that the small gear wheel on the lead part of the drive was loose on the axle. Ah I thought all I need to do is to remove said axle and replace it with one of my spares. Wrong to my amazement this small gear was a completely different size to my replacement one. The offending axle and gears The small gear and the knurled part of the axle where it must go. My solution I think is to glue the small gear wheel back on to the axle if I can find a strong enough glue to do the job. This is where I am seeking help. What glue is best to use, Powerbond, super glue, one of the two part epoxy adhesives? If anyone can kindly help with appropriate advice etc it would be greatly appreciated. I have attached a couple of photos to illustrate the problem. I do realize that the axle and gears will need a thorough cleaning before any glue is applied. Many thanks in advance for any help you can give. Rod

Just to bring you all up to date here is a picture of my LNWR loading gauge. This I commissioned from Chris Ward from an drawing Which I think appeared in Jack Nelson's book "LNWR Portrayed". it is now ready for final cleaning up and painting. The little daringly bits at each end of the bar were made of leather and would have probably been removed in LMS days and certainly by the late 50's and early 60's but I rather like them and therefore a little reluctant to cut them off. I will decide before painting . More soon. Rod

Yet another visitor to Ramchester yesterday! This time a GWR Prairie tank and autocoach. Just how it arrived at the station is a complete mystery and I can only assume that it took the wrong turn somewhere way south of here and no one realized until it had to come to a stop at the platform. Here are some pictures of the event. Having realized his mistake he quickly reversed and proceeded hot foot out of Ramchester before his error was noticed! As you will probably deduce the loco which is a Lionheart model belongs to my friend Peter Martin who popped in to give his new "toy" a run. It is a beautiful model which looks and runs well. Howard has been doing a little more work on the brewery and I have been working on the LNWR loading gauge this afternoon. Picture next time. Progress! Rod

Hello one and all. Today Howard and I had a further session in Platform 2 to work on the railway. Howard continued with painting the walls of the brewery which is a slow and tedious task but it is coming along very nicely. He is having to use a small brush to avoid paint getting into the mortar courses. For my part I have finished the GWR open wagon which Howard brought for me for my birthday and it is now resplendent with its TL couplings in place. It will need weathering in due course but in the meantime it can enter service on Ramchester to earn its keep. Here is a picture of it standing in one of Ramchester's sidings. Well that is all for now until next week. Rod

Last week another visitor to Ramchester rumbled into the station on a test run. The 05 diesel belongs to my friend Peter Martin and is a Heljan model fitted with a Zimo chip. This is his latest purchase and I must say that the sound emitting from the loco was first class. I have posted some pictures of the run for your perusal. This week Howard has been working on the brewery and is engaged in painting the sides "in the flat" Pictures soon. I have been busy fitting the tension lock couplings to my GWR open wagon which is now almostt complete. Again picture soon. Rod

For my 80th birthday Howard presented me with a Minerva Models ex GWR open wagon. While he has been busy with the brewery (and making a 1st class job of it) I have been fiddling about fitting tension lock couplings to it. I have not progressed very far with this project but as soon as I can I will post a photo of the finished task. Some time ago I commissioned a LNWR loading gauge from Chris Ward so in between times I have been assembling this. Again photos to follow in die course. It is nice to hear that some of you at least are enjoying our thread which we will continue to keep up dated as time permits. Thanks for following our progress. Rod

As promised in my post yesterday here are a couple of photos of the chimney base. as Howard indicated in the post above this will stand behind the boiler house butting up to its rear wall. I glued this up today and tried the chimney into the cradle and to my amazement it fitted perfectly. It still needs a little cleaning up before the SEF brickwork is added but so far so good. All for now Rod

Hi Gismorail. It will certainly make an impression when it is finished. So far all is going well and Howard is making a really good job of it. He is a skilled modeller and I am lucky to call him a friend. In the meantime I have been working on the chimney base and doing my best to ensure that the block remains as a true cube - not easy with my limited vision. I started with a short piece of what used to be called 2 X 2 planed all round and cut it to the required length to form a basic cube. This was squared off on my sanding machine - so far so good. Next I cut some thin 3 ply and glued these around the edges of the block to bring its size up to the same as the chimney base. The next step will be to form some walls around the block to form a hollow "box" into which the chimney will sit. Next time I will post a picture of progress so far. Best wishes Rod

Another session this afternoon and Howard has finished cutting out the windows in the bewery walls and has made a start on thickening the area around the windows so that they will appear recessed. With many windows in the building to do this will take him quite a while yet. In the meantime I have finished the roof of the oil yard shed and covered it with tissue paper soaked through with solvent. Once dry I carefully folded it over the boards surrounding the she roof and gave them the same treatment. It was then sprayed with acrylic primer and left to dry. In the meantime I sprayed the building with the same primer ready to undertake painting. The pictures below show the roof laid on top of the hut but not fixed. It has shown signs of warping but when the hut is finished it will be permanently attached which I hope will minimize this effect. At present it is under a weight to help flatted it out. As mentioned previously the window and door frame will not be fitted until the painting has been completed. More soon. Rod

Howard and I ha a further session this afternoon to make a bit more progress on the layout He continued to cut out windows in the brewery while I finished off the roof of the oil yard hut. Here are a couple of pictures of his work to date. What you see here is the card walls with the window openings cut out and propped up against the mock up model that was pictures previously. There have been one or two alterations from the original mock up all for the better I am sure.and I hope you agree. I have been experimenting with tissue paper on my hut roof which seems to be OK. The tissue paper was cut roughly to size placed over the roof and flooded with Butinone. I will have to wait until tomorrow to see what it looks like but first impressions appear favorable. More anon. Rod

As Howard indicated in his last post I have been working on a hut which will eventually go into the oil yard. I have used plasticard this time and a window and a door frame from a commercial source. These have not been fitted in place yet but just pushed into their respective slots for the photos. This is meant to be a concrete building and will be finished with a textured surface to represent this finish. While I have been busy getting this far Howard has made considerable progress on cutting out the window holes for the brewery. He has the boiler house glued up (again windows pushed in) and today he has nearly completed the window holes in the large wall of the tower. This wall is just propped up against the mock up for illustration purposed. That is progress to date but more soon. Rod

Hopefully Howard and 1 are off to see "Heaton Lodge Junction" which is on show at the Bath and West show ground this weekend. We were planning to make a day of it as my friend Tony was due to pick me up early on Sunday morning and them pick up Howard before driving to Honiton to collect another friend David and going off to the showground. However Tony phoned this morning to say his car would not start and it had to be towed to Newton Abbot for inspection. So it looks like plan B with Howard providing the transport unless Tony's car can be sorted out in time - fingers crossed. Sorry Paul we did not take a video of Peter's Class 14 but it did look superb. Next time Peter drops in I will ask him to do one. Simon I think your Management/Employees illustration is really good and it made me laugh!! More anon. Rod

Firstly let me introduce myself. I am Rod Wilson from the Torbay area and since the age of 22 I have been registered as blind. However I still retain some useful vision in my right eye which enables me to get about without a white stick and allows me to participate in railway modelling. I can just about see to assemble a wagon kit using high powered optics but soldering is almost a no-no as the use of these optics necessitates the soldering iron being virtually on the end of my nose. Painting is also difficult as I am unable to differentiate subtle variations of colour. Anyway enough of my problems and difficulties. I totally agree with the above comments and starting with a RTR loco and some wagons is a good first step without having to spend a huge amount of money. It would also give you some idea of how impressive 0 gauge is and what can be achieved in the space you have available. Another idea might be to have a go at a simple scratch built hut or small building just to see if your eyesight can cope with this. I do not know what your eye condition is but for most of my working life I have been involved with the rehabilitation of visually impaired people and towards the end of my working life I ran the low vision clinic at out local hospital. My own 0 gauge layout can be found elsewhere on RMweb under 7mm+modelling/The Ramchester Chronicles and was featured in Railway Modeller for April 2020. I have posted a picture below for your interest. Thank you Simon for giving my layout a plug. Finally if you want some advice on how to cope with poor vision please feel free to contact me via a PM. Rod

It seems quite a while since I posted something on this thread so here goes. In Howard's post a week or so ago he showed his expertise when he re-worked an older Skytrex LMS van. I am really pleased with this and the improvements that he has made are beyond belief. I have included my own photograph here for you to share once again. During the last week or so Ramchester has acquired a little bit more rolling stock. I felt that I was short of open wagons and as a result I splashed out on a Minerva ex GWR version. I know that I am a keen LMS man but open wagons in the early 60's tended to travel everywhere so I did not need to make any excuses for this purchase. Anyway it is an excellent model and as soon as I have fitted TL couplings and it receives Howard's weathering touch it will enter service on the layout. I have included a picture below. My next purchase was two more Lionheart Mk 1's - a SO and a Ck. These supplement my existing three Lionheart coaches to make up a 5 coach rake. Again these models are excellent and are DCC fitted so now I have my first lighted train. The picture below show Ramchester's pilot engine pushing the complete train into the platform ready for the London service. It would be nice if I could increase the length of this train to 6 or even 7 coaches and Ramchester's platform is long enough to accommodate this but it would cause some challenges in the fiddle yard on the opposite side of the shed. Another bit of news is that I have just commissioned from Chris Ward 100 3D printed fence posts measured from the prototype. These will form the basis of a lot of chain link fencing surrounding the oil and chemical area that we are working on. More of this soon. Rod

Hi Peter. I have been away from your thread for some time and I am pleased to see how much progress you have made over the ensuing months. I do like the Deltic which I remember as a young lad passing through Rugby station on its way north. Next time you visit Ramchester please bring it down with you as I would love to see it running into Ramchester. I am sure it will look good. Keep up the good work. Rod