Geep7

Thanks for such a quick reply. The reason for asking is that i've been looking on eBay for secondhand Dapol 66's, and noticed a few listed as "spares and repairs", so wondered if there was an issue I should be aware of. Split gears, are, unfortunately, endemic in most modern d/e locos, no matter the scale, but does seem to have improved recently. In the space we have available (just over 9ft), I don't think the 66's will be pulling much more than half a dozen JIA's anyway, so hopefully the Dapol 66 being a bit light shouldn't matter too much. Personally, i'm toying with the idea of building a small micro-layout with a china clay works that'll fit on a shelf.

My father and I have just started building a bit more of serious N gauge layout for my 13 year old nephew, and i'm possibly thinking of getting some N gauge stock to run on it. The last time I properly modelled in N gauge, apart from building my nephew his previous roundy-roundy layout, was back in the late 90's, so i'm not totally up to speed with stuff, as i've been modelling 4mm British outline since. Obviously I know Bachmann now makes the Farish stuff, and Dapol, Revolution Trains and EFE are now on the scene. We'll be modelling current era Cornwall, as my nephew already has a Kato Class 800, and loves the area, so i'm looking at getting myself a Class 66, and a handful of china clay wagons (possibly the EFE JIA's). But, what should I be aware of? I know both Farish and Dapol do a Class 66, but which is the better one to get? My nephew already has a Dapol 66, and it runs fine, but i've heard they are rather prone to gear issues? Have we just been lucky, or is the gears issue not that bad? Just hope some of you out there might be able to just give me a bit of advice. TIA.

Not a massive update this time, as I was pulled away last weekend to help build a new N gauge layout for my nephew. However, I did get a chance to give the backscene a first initial coat of sky blue paint. I bought a tester pot of emulsion paint called "Blue Horizon", and there was just enough in the pot to cover the whole backscene. I think it works pretty well, so i've order a full tin of the stuff to give it another coat, and which should be of use for any future layouts as well. I'm seriously considering replacing my Spanish layouts printed Peco backscene with this plain colour. It'll be easier to patch up any damage, should any occur. A view of the bridge, with the obligatory bus.... I currently have the far corner of the road/bridge right up tight in the corner of the backscene, but I think I have scope to move the bridge to the right a couple of centimetres or so, which should allow for a tree to hide up the corner joint. I was originally going to try and curve the corners of the backscene, but I don't think I have enough room to do so. I have also been gradually working on this Cambrian Sturgeon over the past few months. I took it rather slow and steady, and I think it's come out rather well so far. It's currently still in primer, waiting to go through the paint shop, and will be turned out in well-weathered Engineering Black. A rather enjoyable kit to build, even though it appeared daunting to start with. I do have another to build, but thankfully it's the version without the doors (no need to make 28 identical wire door handles this time), and also a Salmon. They are however, rather long wagons. I hadn't appreciated quite how long they were until i'd finished it and put it on the layout. So this will make the odd appearance on the layout, with a Grampus and Dogfish for company. So next tasks..... the bridge still needs finishing, but I think I want to get the point motors fitted, even if not wired up, and then get the ballasting done. However, before I ballast, I need to work out positions for the magnets to uncouple the Kadees. For now, i've been using a cocktail stick, but, should this layout ever end up being exhibited (never say never), i'll want hands off uncoupling. I intend to use the neodymium magnets again, now I know how they work, as they have a smaller area of influence compared to the proper Kadee magnets, and they also seem to work better on shallow curves. But the good news with trying out the magnet positions is, I get to play run trains.

Or a comfy chair....

As someone who tests websites for a living, i'm not massively keen on this move to big areas of colour with text, and large moving videos, etc. Would be interesting if it passes accessibility. Bring back the white space......

Have reported it, but there is nothing to select that allows you to specifically tell FB that the page has been hacked.

"You'll need a tray......" 😃

Wow, wasn't expecting a Booster to be announced. The BR Blue one does seem rather tempting.

Having read railcar.co.uk, apparently half were fitted with gangways whilst still in Blue. Most 117's also received White & Blue before getting Blue & Grey. But yes, it would be nice to have a 117 in Blue without Gangways. It's a shame that you can't easily change the inter-unit connectors, so that you can create mixed formations.

Would it be too much to hope for a OO gauge 4-Cig or 4-Cor? But also still hoping for BR Blue Class 117 and 2-Hap.....

The original Punta Brava in full form was 16ft8ins, including a 5ft fiddle yard. This allowed for a 333, plus a full 7 car Talgo Pendular set, or 7 car Talgo 3 set with generator car. Sadly, the 9 foot length I now have available includes the fiddle yard. I could probably push this to about 9ft 6 at a pinch, which would be useful as a measure of my 3-car 440 EMU works out at 37" long. I know I could run my EMU's 2-car units, the 440, 470 and 432 all did so towards the end of their careers, but my 592 3-car DMU has the motor coach unhelpfully in the centre coach, although fortunately,is slightly shorter than the EMU's. I'll have a think about the depot idea, but i'll be limited to about 13in width (a lack shelf plus 2 pieces of 34mm timber either side), which will seriously limited the number of tracks I can have. Although, maybe a small 3 road shed, and a few outdoor stabling sidings might work. I'll have a play around in Anyrail. The only other doubt I have, is that i'll have to provide a fair amount to be electrified, as my electric stock outnumbers the diesels. It would be nice to have somewhere for some freight stock to appear too. But it'll have to all be about compromise. I might even try a curved layout to see if I can squeeze anything more in.

Castle on the hill - Ed Sheeran

Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel

Progress update part 2 I did intend to post this progress update almost straight after the last one, but as ever, life gets in the way. So next on the list, structure wise, to get to a stage before scenery can start is the bridge forming the fiddle yard view block. I've been wanting to try building a plate girder bridge for a while now, and having a couple of the Wills vari-girder kits in stock, I thought this would be the ideal solution. So as we see in the photos, there are two spans, one short, crossing the freight branch, and 1 long, crossing the main lines and platform. The top spans are made up of various numbers of plates from the vari-girder kit to suit the span, with a piece of Plastruct girder to form the plate for the deck. The abutments, are the Wills kits, although I could have probably made them from plain brick plastic sheet, but I like the relief on the Wills brick sheets. The Plastruct girders have been detailed with some microstrip and rivets. The rivets are from Scale Model Scenery and are laser-cut on thin mdf. The strips were still a little thick for what I wanted, and with them being mdf, I was able to just take off the top 2 layers, which were then glued in place with Plastic weld. And here we are, up to date. The girders have been attached to the base plate for the road, this being a single piece of 40 thou plasticard. I've place it back on the layout to check for fit, and how it looks, and i'm pretty pleased with it. The plan is to add a central support to the longer span, just to hide up the exit to the fiddle yard a bit more. The intention is for this to be made of a couple of circular columns, joined with cross-spars. But i'm not entirely sure if a span of this width would require it really. But I think I will build it, try it in place, and then see how it looks. Other than that, it needs some cross girders adding under the spans, just so if any ground level photos are taken, it won't look daft. Plus finishing off the abutments, and then I can look at the road surface itself. However, before I do that, I've just received an IKEA order, with a couple of new display cabinets to make (one for trains) and a new modelling desk. I may, or may not, have sneaked in a couple of Lack shelves with the order for a future project.

All the answers you could need, and more, in this thread:

Baseboards...... yes and no. If they are well built, and of the right size for your project, then go ahead. But, I can't recommend using old baseboards, and then adding extra extensions or bits of wood, just to get an extra track in or another couple of inches in length. Don't ask me how I know this.......

I must admit, collecting all these electric trains does mean I am having to tackle the dreaded knitting. As i've described a couple of pages back, on Punta Brava, I had been sort of cheating, and making the support spans and hangers, but leaving the actual wires out. Speaking of the layout itself things have still stalled. As i've mentioned a few times before, I have no space to put the entire layout up without disrupting the whole family, and it would be rather selfish of me to put it up for a whole weekend just to play trains, or do some scenery work. Also, whilst i'm reasonably happy with the actual track plan, and overall look of the layout, i'm not very happy with the baseboards. They are all of different sizes, having been made from board from a previous layout, and augmented. This means the boards aren't particular light either, which makes moving them around and storing the layout a pain. This has meant i've become a bit dissatisfied with the current layout. It's a difficult decision to make, but sometimes, rather than plodding on with something you aren't 100% happy with, it's better to take a step back, and decide that a complete new start is better. Fortunately, i've not got too far on the scenery side, and only ballasted a short length of track and 1 point, so there won't be much waste if I scrap the layout. All of this thinking had kind of sapped my enthusiasm for my Spanish modelling, so I had a chat with my wife, and basically she's agreed that building a smaller, simpler Spanish layout, in the same footprint as my current small British Outline layout would be a good idea. So this means a maximum length of about 9ft and a maximum width of 13 inches. The current thought is a simple single platform station, with run-round loop, and a couple of sidings for freight. I intend to use the station building i've already built, along with the church. However, I keep thinking, with all these loco's I have, whether I should build a depot layout. I'll be interested to know your thoughts.... I'll will continue with this new layout in this thread, as I intend to keep the same name, and it seems like a good idea to keep all my Spanish modelling in one thread.

I also have a Mehano 252 in the blue and white, but with Altaria markings. I knew that the Lima/Electrotren 252 was shorter, and in actual fact, is a model of the Eurosprinter, rather than a true 252, but I didn't realise quite how much shorter until I compared them next to each other this morning. Usually this would bother me, especially with British Outline, but the likelihood of a Mehano Taxi 252 turning up is very low. I think in normal operation, looking side on, it won't be as noticeable. It's just a shame that the Mehano 252 is no longer in production.

Good job on picking up the TRD. I think they are rarer than hen's teeth, and i'd very much doubt if Electrotren/Hornby would want to re-issue them. Yes, unfortunately the model does suffer from one rather major achilles heel. I can't recall if I've mentioned that i'd had managed to re-gear the motor coach with some brass gears. However, something kept nagging at me. Whilst the fix worked rather well, it did cause a bit more noise than I wanted, due to mine being DCC sound fitted. So I recently bought some nylon RC gears from that well known internet emporium, plus a gear puller. A 10 minute job, and I had it running again, and running a lot smoother than before, and quieter. Also, very recently, I managed to grab a decent buy off of the 'bay. This is not an Electrotren 252, but the earlier Lima issue of the model. As such, it is not DCC fitted, ready, or anything like that, so will take a bit of time to get it chipped. However, i'm rather impressed with the detail of the model, and the chassis as well. Compared with the UK outline Lima models of a similar vintage, it's lightyears ahead. It'll be interesting to see what Hornby/Electrotren announce in January. From a personal point of view, i'd love a rerun of the 311 in the red/grey livery and the 321 in green. And I would love it if they did a model of the Class 446/447 EMU's.

Progress Update 1 So a couple of updates to get us up to the current stage of progress. First up is the signal box. This being one of the Ratio ARP kits. I wanted something slightly different for this layout, and settle on this, after I noticed that there was a similar looking box at Gomshall. The kit is basically made up as per the instructions, but was painted entirely in Vallejo Stone Grey (a decent approximation for concrete) and then the brick colour dry-brushed on. The windows are, I think, Railmatch Southern Green, but might be a Vallejo shade that's very close. They were painted before painting the concrete, hence needing some touching up, which I will get around to doing at some point. The platforms, as seen in the first post, aren't particularly complex, being Peco concrete sides, with the rest of the structure made of 40 thou plasticard. The surface will be some fine grade wet/dry paper. This then brings us to the footbridge. As I have mentioned, the is some inspiration from Waddon Marsh with the island platform, and this continues to how passengers access it. I originally had planned to have a staton building of the road overbridge, but I felt this has been done so often I wanted to do something different. The footbridge is a kitbash of 2 Ratio concrete footbridges, arranged with opposed stairways. The reason for using 2 kits, was to extend the centre span to 5 panels. It's also been given a slight angle, just to try and get away from everything being so square and regimented. Here are a few views. And above the SR General Manager's Inspection Saloon propelled by ED E6037 performs a clearance check run. E6037, is a renumber of the latest Dapol 73120. It's had a coat of matt varnish, but definitely needs some weathering. An the Inspection Saloon is Revolution Trains excellent model. Part 2 to follow soon....

It's a shame I hadn't seen your post on Forotrenes. There is a site which shows real time tracking of trains on the RENFE network, showing the trains, similar to how flightradar24 does, on a map. The site is called Positren: https://positren.nebulacodex.com/ Hope this helps for when you're next over in Spain. Also, thanks for sharing the photos. Not many RENFE livered locos about I see. Am I correct in thinking that I read over on Forotrenes that RENFE Mercancias is no more, and it's all now going to be private freight operators?

I thought that they were fixing the gangway to improve the look? If that doesn't include moving the gangway door forward, then what's the point? I also think that the horns are still too small.

I still think model full length modern outline trains is where N gauge still scores over any of the larger scales (TT120 included). A full length 2+8 in N is just a shade over 4.5ft, in 4mm, it's almost 10ft. I'm not sure what that works out at in TT120, but it'll be somewhere near the 6-7ft mark. The set being run at GETS was a 2+4 set, so basically what the GWR "Castle" sets were, but the shortest sets run in normal service before this were usually 2+7's on the cross-countries and in the early days on the Western Region. Again, are most people who will be modelling in TT120 be that bothered about running a full formation? In that case, why are Hornby bothering doing 4 different Mk3 coach types? Ok, 3 types really, as the TF and TS share the same bodyshell. I know that since I was little (that's rather too many years than I care to admit), i've known that a typical HST set is made up of 2 power cars, 1 or 2 first class coaches, a restaurant/buffet car, 3 or 4 standard class coaches and a standard class TGS (the last only from the early 80's onwards). Yes, I know there are exceptions to this for special trains where there were 2 restaurant cars or it being a 2+9 set. Is this the sort of information that we should be providing to new entrants to the hobby, or should we just let them have fun?

Think i'm going to bump this thread too, as i've just started a new thread, and I can't add any custom tags, just those in a very short list.

Just to let you all know, i've now started a thread in the main Layout Topics section of the site: