Geep7

Yep, they're the Hornby TTA's. Here's some I did earlier.... The walkways / ladders are A1 Models etches which I just managed to stumble upon on eBay. They were striped down, the bodies had most of the detail removed, repainted and new transfers. The chassis' were given metal wheelsets and white metal buffers. If i'm totally honest, the reason I did this was because I had some old ones hanging around, plus manages to get a couple more quite cheaply. If I was doing them again, i'd go for the Bachmann ones, especially if doing EM.

I use Xuron track cutters. I find them to me much more accurate (and safer) than a slitting disc. The burr left behind is easily cleaned up by a couple of passes with a file. They are also useful as sprue nippers once they no longer cut track nicely.

A thought that has occured? Could the capacitor fitted to the motor be causing interference with the decoder. I tried the loksound auto tune to set the back emf, and this does seem to have helped, along with another 100g of weight.

When I say erratic running, I mean they seem to find any small dirt patch and stall. The last time they were run on pure DC they seemed to run ok, but thats been a while now. I've given the sound fitted one (a legomanbiffo loksound 4.0 decoder btw) a good clean on some IPA soaked cloth and that seems to have picked up more dirt than I thought there was. So perhaps that was the issue, I suppose there is clean, and then really clean. As regards the back emf, that's a good call, I know there is the "detect" mode on the loksound chip, so i'll try that out and see if it helps. Cheers.

Yes, it's affecting the sound as well, hence why I think it's the pickups. I have plenty of other locos that run well with no problems, even my 2-Bil and 2-Hal run fine, and the have the same motor bogie. It's just the 73's I am having an issue with. I did wonder if it's an issue with the Hornby wheels, as they are chemically darkened from the looks of it. I'll try bunging some extra weight in one to see if that makes any difference.

I've got 2 Hornby Class 73 chassis's and i've changed on both the motor bogie wheelsets to ones without traction tyres. Theoretically this should mean all wheel pickup and better running. However I am still getting erratic running, especially from the one fitted with a sound decoder (both are DCC fitted). I've cleaned the wheels and pickups on both, but still get the erratic running. Does anyone have any thoughts? Could it be a case of not enough weight in the chassis? Or should I fit new pickups (as suggested by Charlie @ DC Kits when I ordered the sound chip)?

The Railway Enthusiasts’ Club MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION 2017 Woking Leisure Centre Woking Park GU22 9BA Saturday 9th September 10:30 am to 5:30 pm Sunday 10th September 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Layouts currently attending CALIFORNIA COAST - Z A Piece of the California Coast, with Santa Fe and Rio Grande Trains 1970 to Present Day. Layout Recently Extended BANBURY - N Banbury 2011, with Freight from Southampton and the North, Coal to Didcot, and Passenger Trains DENTDALE - N West Coast Maineline, Day 1, BR 1955-1967, Day 2, 2000-2016 HINKSEY YARD - N Double Track Mainline, Passing Engineers Depot, 2010, DBS (EWS) WHITMOOR - N A Freelance Through Station and Branch, with Extensive Goods Yard and Loco. Facilities. Set in No Particular Era. ADDISON PARK - 3mm 14.2 gauge London Transport Mainline Underground Terminus, 1950's BALLYCONNELL ROAD - 3mm 15.75 gauge Great Northern Railway of Ireland, Broad Gauge through Station in County Sligo 1955 PINE BLUFFS AND RED DOT MINE - HO Era 1956, this fictitious Line, sees Trains from Santa Fe, Denver & Rio Grande, Pine Bluffs & Ceda Falls Railroad PROSPECT POINT - HO (Std + Narrow gauge) A Montana 1940-1950, Based, Logging Layout, With 3 Junctions, 1in 25 Gradients and Switchbacks, Where Trains Run a Scale Mile BRINK VALLEY TRAMWAY - O9 A Freelance 1930's 18" Narrow Gauge Terminus, with Goods Yard, and a Branch to a Quarry A CORNISH RAILWAY - OO St Austell Railway Station and Goods Yard, Summer 1982, BR Blue Period MORTONHAMPSTEAD - OO B.R/W.R. Branch Line Terminus, 1954-1959 MUCH MURKLE - OO GWR Branch Terminus, set in the 1930's SOUTHWICK - OO Mainline Junction Station, 1958-1966 BR, (S&D or SR) THIRDLEY LMS - OO Set In WWII, This Fictitious LMS (ex L&Y) Through Station, with Branch, on the Manchester to Preston Line, in the Wigan Area, BLACKFRIARS BRIDGE - P4 London Mainline Through Station, run by London, Chatham & Dover Railway set in 1873 HOBBITON END - 5.5 9MM Set After the Battle of the Rings, the Dwarfs Build Middle Earths First Railway to Link 2 Dwarf Communities, Under the Blue Mountains PORTWENN - O16.5 A Fictitious Sleepy Cornish Fishing Village, Who’s Main Export is Fish From the Smoke Houses. Passengers & Farm Goods SLINDON VALE RAILWAY- NOREWOOD FOR SLINDON - O16.5 Fictional Sussex Narrow Gauge Through Station, Operated as a Terminus in Modern Preservation SELSEY TOWN STATION - O 1925 Terminus on the Branch Line from Chichester Built by Colonel H.F. Stephens ARIGNA TOWN - O.36.75 ( 5'3") Fictitious branch of the Sligo, Leitrim, & Counties Railway Irish 5'3"gauge,(1882-1957), Set in 1950's SCRATCHY BOTTOM HALT AND CLOUD CUCKOO CREEK - GN15 1:24-16.5 Rowland Emett Based Railway With A Small Halt HAMBLEDEN VALLEY RAILWAY - G 45MM A Fully Scenic G45 Branch Terminus, Featured in the November 2016 Railway Modeller, Warley Winner 2016 Further details to follow.....

Here are a few new pix taken over the last couple of days. Gloucester RCW DPU W59551 leaves Blackhurst on a parcels service to Reading, whilst D6511 waits to depart with fuel oil empties to Hither Green. 2-Hal 2623 has just arrived on a service from London Victoria via Redhill. A Southdown Queen Mary leaves with a service to Fareham. 2h Thumper waits to depart with a service to Tonbridge, whilst the 2-Bil will form a London service. A view of the signalbox. It must be a warm summer's day with all those windows open.

There have been a couple of new arrivals at Blackhurst, courtesy of that well known Merseyside emporium. First up is a Heljan BRCW Type 3 No. D6551 in BR Green with small yellow warning panels. I've fitted this with an NCE D13SRP 8-pin decoder. Fitting couldn't have been easier, with the body coming off really easily. It's likely i'll renumber this loco, as my other Compton is D6511, so only 1 number is different. I'll probably renumber it as an example recorded on a Reading to Redhill turn. The second arrival a Heljan DPU in the early Blue scheme. This is purely a "rule 1" purchase, as to my knowledge, none have been recorded as appearing on the Reading to Redhill route. It is a beautiful model, and as noted elsewhere, has the power of an Ox. It happily pulled and pushed my remotored and weighted Lima Class 117 around the layout as if they weren't there. This is my first 21-pin socket loco, so not having used any before, I took a punt with one of Hatton's own decoders. So far, it seems really good, and readily programmable on my PowerCab. The only issue I had fitting the decoder was getting the bodyshell off. It's a very tight fit, and really requires 3 hands to remove it. I managed to dislodge a couple of underframe moulding whilst doing so, so hopefully I won't need to change the decoder chip anytime soon. Both will be weathered in due course when time permits. BTW, please ignore the Ford Anglia in the tree that appears in the 2nd photo. My son happens to be a bit of a Harry Potter fan and told me it belongs in the tree (he's only 6!).

PM sent.

There is a photo in one of my Dad's or my books (Heyday of the Hymeks I think) of a Hymek at Redhill on a Bullied 3-car set. However i'm sure that's dated about 1963, a bit early for my supposed timeframe, but at least within the realms of possibility.

Yes, it's portable (4 x 2'6" scenic boards + 1 x 5' fiddle yard) and it's already done one exhibition (last September), but I haven't had any more invites so far. That suits me for now, due to current family & work commitments, but would love to take it back out on the road soon.

Not wanting to sound condescending, and only suggesting if you haven't, but have you tried plugging the cable into both sockets on the PcP? The fact the red light on the PcP isn't coming on may mean you're trying to plug it into the wrong socket. Only reason I mention is I did exactly the same yesterday with my PowerCab.

I've also been steadily working on my Lima Class 117 DMU. This has now been expanded out to a 3 car set with the addition of a TCL... Just slowly adding the laserglaze, which is a great product, but very slow work on a unit with so many windows. Does look as though there is a bit of a Western Region invasion with the Hymek on the freight. However, there is documented evidence of Hymeks working on the Reading to Redhill line, so not much of a stretch that one would reach Blackhurst.

So it's been a little while since my last update, and the layout has moved on fairly slowly now the warmer weather has arrived. However, i've managed to do a bit of scenic work around what was the oil depot siding. Still a bit of work to do, and the loading dock needs finishing off and blending in. I think they'll be a couple of trees and a bit of fencing. But the oil depot hasn't been completely forgotten about. This will be put on a new board to go between the current scenic part of the layout and the fiddle yard, but is a fair way off at the moment....

I'm looking at purchasing the Heljan Class 128 in Early Blue livery (W55991), but I was wondering how late it would have carried this and therefore when it would have been repainted with FYE? My layout is based circa summer 1969, so looking at roughly around that date. Many thanks, Chris

Thanks for that. I don't have a copy of that book, only the Reading to Guildford one, but I think the club has a copy, so i'll take a look when i'm next there. Funnily enough, i've lived by it for the past 30 years, just early enough to see the 1st gen DMU's still in service before the Turbos took over. Was even lucky enough to get a ride in a Connex Class 205 once. Back to the Headcode, I did wonder if it would be a 1A or 2A headcode.... I'm assuming had the service actually originated on the WR, it would have been a 1OXX headcode?

Does anyone know if there was ever an instance of a Western Region DMMU deputising for a Tadpole unit in the late 60''s / early 70's before the line was transferred to WR control? And if they did, which headcode would they have shown? I know the 2-digit codes for the route were 55 and 88, so would it have shown 2 white blanks and 55 or 88, or would it be 2A88 / 2A55? Thanks, Chris

That's what I was thinking too. I seem to recall that double white blinds was the headcode for an ECS working.

Being a bit of a sci-fi fan, I really should have some triffids... :-D But seriously, they probably be old toothbrush bristle's painted green, with a colourful (red / yellow / blue) bit of flock stuck on the end. Might not look too great up close, but should look fine from normal viewing distance.....

So a small progress report from the Easter weekend. Ticked off one issue that has been pending since the Exhibition last year, and that was to resolve an intermittent pickup issue on one of the points. Turned out to be a dry joint on the wire bonding one of the stock rails to the switch rail. I've also made a raised flower bed to go where the water column usually is, as i'm not entirely convinced a water column would have survived into 1969. Here is a photo, although I still need to add some colourful flowers. Other than that, i've been "Laserglazing" my DMU, a rather fiddly, and at times tedious job, hope to have this finished by the end of the month.....

Oh, that's done it..... I thought I was safe from the lure of a Wickhams.... must resist. Mind you, sticking a decoder in one looks rather tricky. That'll be for the next layout.....

I haven't quite given up on the oil depot idea just yet. I have a idea to build an additional board between the road bridge and the fiddle yard which will feature the oil depot at the back of the layout, allowing for some low relief tanks on the backscene. Regarding the engineers siding, i'm thinking of modelling it as a part of the goods yard with a loading dock, that just so happens to be being used for engineers and p-way trains removing the line from beyond Blackhurst (across the level crossing). Should really make apologies for the bus on the bridge.... now where can I put the TARDIS?

I'm leaning towards the engineers siding too. However, i'm not sure what would be beside such a siding. As mentioned, I was thinking of having an old loading dock, now used to store old sleepers etc. As regards Wickhams on the Southern, i'm not sure.

Thanks leopardml, I did think about putting a fuel point in, but the station is only meant to be about 40 miles or so from Redhill, so I imagined that most locos wouldn't need fueling when arriving at Blackhurst. The only loco that might do, would be the 08, but I assume this would trip back to Redhill every couple of days. The main reason for thinking of changing, is I wanted to increase the potential for goods traffic. Also, I have a siding which I use for the engineer's stock, but this is intended to be a stabling siding (and will be juiced at some point). However, the fueling point idea has got me thinking..... *edited for double post.