rodshaw

Come and see Naples Street ar Risex tomorrow! All packed up and ready for loading into the car.

If you discount a childhood train set laid down on demand by my dad on a wonky piece of hardboard and taken up again ten minutes later when I got fed up of it, I built my first layout 20 years ago. It was 3mm scale and relied heavily on Tri-ang TT and Bilteezi. This is it: You can read about it here: http://mattersofinterest.co.uk/briargate.htm

One more addition to Naples Street - this GP9 in SP colours. Like my previous one it's a Lionel display model with a motor, gear train and truck assemblies added. Most of the parts came from Sebnitz, who sell Tillig spares. This time I fitted sound - a Zimo MX648 decoder and a sugar cube speaker measuring 15 x 8 x 4.5mm from YouChoos, who preloaded the Zimo GP9 sound project for me. It's not particularly loud with this tiny speaker but ok for my small layout room. All wiring except speaker wires goes via the PCB on top of the motor. Everything just squeezes into the narrow body shell. I painted the insides of the cab number boards black but the light still shines through a bit. Couplers are now in place, and I've mended that broken handrail. All ready for Risex on the 22nd!

I've made a start fitting a motor into another TT scale Lionel GP9 and this time I intend to install DCC sound. Given the restricted amount of space for a decoder and speaker I'm thinking small, something along the lines of a Zimo MX648 with one of the YouChoos sugarcube speakers such as the Scube5. Does anyone have experience of Zimo sound and the small YouChoos speakers, or can they suggest an equally small pair of alternatives?

It does have a touch of light weathering which doesn't really show up on the photo, but I decided to more or less leave it clean, as per this prototype picture: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2488008 Rod

The latest addition to Naples Street - a Sante Fe coal gondola which I've recommissioned for scrap use. Not my best effort in some respects, but I was once again pleased with the supplied decals. It's all brush painted, with several coats of gloss varnish pre-decalling then then satin varnish after. This time I used MicroTrains 1016 couplers, which are more dinky than my usual Kade 714s but come ready assembled. Having said which, I managed to make one fall apart anyway!

1:100 would be ideal for me. I'm currently modelling American TT (1:120) and I'm finding it just a little too small for my liking, although it does make measurements easy to convert, e.g. a 50ft boxcar is 5 inches long. 1:100 American TT would be really nice, as I find HO (1:87) just that bit too big.

Both have their own topics on this forum but here are mine: Naples Street (American TT) The video Yorkford, PA (American HO)

Just a reminder that you can see Naples Street this Saturday at Letchworth.

All done, with just a bit of light weathering. The decals are excellent, and were easy to apply. You can hardly see the backing film at all. The long vertical door bars weren't supplied so I made my own. Ditto for the side ladders - only two were supplied and they were too wide. Fortunately I had a spare length of ladder left over from a 3mm kit, which I cut down. The main moulded parts are very nice and went together well, and overall I'm very pleased with the kit.

All ready for fitting the decals supplied with the kit. After that's done I'll reduce the gloss sheen by applying a couple of coats of satin before weathering. The paint is three coats of burnt sienna artists' acrylic, applied with a brush over grey Rustoleum primer from a rattle can. Looks like a fairly decent match from the prototype photos I've seen. To my mind the car is crying out for those two long vertical rods on the doors (fasteners?) as you see here: http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2671218 They weren't supplied so I'll need to make some out of wire. There were a few other niggles with the kit, such as no brakewheel gearbox and two missing side ladders (luckily I had some spare), but overall it's a nice model. The couplers are Kadee 714s. They needed a thin shim to get them down to the right level. That's the last time I'm going to bother with those tiny springs, I'll save on frustration and buy Micro Trains ready-assembled in future. Seems for every spring I fit, no matter how careful I am I manage to mangle or lose one!

These are indeed what I have used. I bought two MRC diesel sounders and placed them under the layout at opposite ends (it's only four feet long). You can choose between six different US diesel prime movers (four EMD and two Alco). They work perfectly in sync with each other and with the loco, whatever the decoder, as long as they are set to the same address. They have a variety of function options including manual notching, horn, bell, brake squeal, air release etc.. I used them with my previous HO scale locos and now, having gone down to American TT, I can still use them with my new locos. Not quite the same as having each loco fitted with sound but more than good enough for my purposes. At the lowest volume they are pretty loud at home. At the highest volume they are just about ok at a show. MRC have produced some new ones now complete with a PC-type speaker housing but I'm not sure they're available yet in the UK.

That's got the main parts assembled...now for the tricky bits!

A great tit having a reccy of our bird box. Odd time of year for this really, maybe just curiosity...personally, I think he should wait till after Brexit before he puts in an offer.

Coming on nicely! I like the illuminated buildings. Are you on the ttnut forum? If not, I think they'd be interested in what you're doing.

So on to my next project - this 50ft hi-cube from Siggis in Germany. Comes complete with weights, decals, wheels and trucks, the only thing I need to add is couplers. I've got the Southern version so I'm going to have to find some suitably reddish-brown paint to finish it.

Der! I discovered I'd exported the video in low res from Movie Maker. Anyway here's a higher res version which looks a bit better: https://youtu.be/CRi3YqSjwi4

This one is pretty dire - written by Terry Jones and Michael Palin apparently. A sort of cheesy modellers' anthem... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMntdWHDNVU

And now the video...here's a bit of switching action. https://youtu.be/iWOwbz27m1Q I recorded this on my smartphone attached to a tripod and used Windows Movie Maker to edit it. It's my first YouTube posting and I must say the quality is not quite as good as the original...can anyone suggest why? I've read that it can take a while for YouTube videos to gain their full quality but it's been up there for about a day now. The maximum quality YouTube lets me set when I view it is 480p.

...and is this a coal tit? Can anyone confirm? Didn't get a picture of its head but it's black and there's a small white patch on the back of its neck.

We're getting greenfinches and great tits this autumn... And is this a greenfinch too?

By the way, I've recently updated my online description of the layout with lots of new pictures.

Even a small layout needs a fair bit of wiring. Mine was a bit disorganised so after I got back from Olney I decided to consolidate it. Now it all goes through this central interface board, which originally was used just for the timer for the smoking chimney. It sits under the layout and has an acrylic cover. The gizmo in the middle is the timer, and the microswitch at right is an override cut-off for it. (You can tell that my abilities to saw a straight line are limited.) The inputs are for DCC power, the button that works the smoking chimney and the 12V PSU that operates the timer, glowing brazier and overhead lighting. The outputs from the DCC power are for the track, under-baseboard speakers and chimney smoke unit. I must say I'm not over keen on the terminal block type connectors, but I have lots of them and it made sense to use them. I don't have to plug and unplug them that often.

I had a set of US TT decals made for me by a contact in Australia who produces excellent decals. If you email him he may be able to do what you want, His printing and postage rates are very reasonable. His name is Ted Freeman and his email address is teditor@bigpond.com.

I have only ever had one layout at a time. After a few years, when I'm getting fed up with it, I start designing a new one and then dismantle or sell the old one. They are always micro layouts, or at least on the small side. But now I'm considering a second layout because I'm torn between my current TT layout and doing another one in HO. I'd really like one of each (if I can wangle the space) so the pencil and paper are out again.