letterspider

If that's right it explains the problems I've been having!

'C'mon let's go home, I've already been waiting for years to get on board' 'I'm sorry I have a headache dear'

So this is where the Queen will be standing and then after the salute...hang on....they're just bringing the carpet

(The man is thinking) this is one occasion I should have worn platform shoes with my flares... The lady is saying 'I think BREL have missed the Hornby moulding line between the white and red stripes'

A correct blue and yellow livery doen't seem to be very much to ask for?!

An interesting announcement. I wouldn't be surprised if Hornby now rush through a run of BR Blue livery...

It just goes to show, you can only succeed in these sort of attempts if you go at it 'full tilt'

I can see a glossy website with some attractive routes. Nowhere to book tickets no rolling stock Looks like they are just going to measure visits to the website to get an idea of which countries' residents are showing a passing interest It would be nice for the EU to do what it was created for and co-ordinate this project - it has tremendous potential just for weekend romances

Bit more adjusting..

Continuing in the corner of the layout, the sidings will have a concrete hardstanding. I used Wilkos premixed filler which is easy to work with and pliable for hours but dries very hard; after 2 days can be easily sanded smooth Plastikote Suede used for the concrete colour.

The Hornby Class 86 was my first model train of any kind so it had been really nice to run the Heljan model. I am planning to eventually put catenary on the upper viaduct, until then my AC electrics will have to be dragged.

This is a really great model. Smooth and powerful running even at the slowest of speeds. A nice surprise was to find the buffer beam details pre-fitted. I'm looking forward to the release of the 86/2

Barrier painted and installed

Lima did install plastic lenses for the headcode boxes. It made fitting your own lighting easier. I say easier, at one end there was a giant pancake motor so tall there was no room for a cab iirc. Well, what do you expect for £35? If you want a better detailed, DCC ready Lima, then you I believe this was the idea behind Vitrains

I have decided to use one corner as idle sidings. Some kind of barrier is needed between the mainline and sidings. I have been saving track offcuts to scratch build a track built barrier. This is definetly not a job for superglue.

Progress has been made on ballasting and the viaduct Point motors are controlled by an ESU Switchpilot and this requires a separate power supply when using PECO point motors. I have to use surface mounts as there is no room under the baseboard. Does anyone have any idea how to disguise sufrace mount point motors? Both signals are Traintech DCC - very simple to use - can be powered and programmed from the track. It's great to finally have the track laid so that I can have running sessions :) Control is by an eLink using the 4 amp power supply - sufficient as I will have no more than 4 locos running simultaneously Scenery is powered from a very old 14VAC PSU from a Scalextric set - nothing goes to waste!

APT-S for me

Isn't it because if the black window surround?

I have that Sommerfeldt and although very fine is also very robust - apart from the base really would have been a better choice for Heljan. I agree that of itself the pantograph looks good and is an improvement in the right direction, however when the Heljan 86 is put next to a Bachmann 85 or 90, you get the feeling that Bachmann were uncompromising in their aims

Bump

Putting a power car in the middle of a train seems to have caused BR and Hornby more problems than it solved!

In that case I will settle for an APT TTS sound chip, and it would be nice for Hornby to do the 87 while they are at it. In case Mr Kohler is reading this thread...

If avoiding the use of powered connectors is a very considerable cost saving - perhaps Hornby would be generous in providing a pair of cheap function only decoders for the trailers?

Anyone considering the Heljan 86 - it is a very fine model. The steps do look chunky on these photos but 'in the flesh' I don't think they are quite so offensive. Looking forward to the next batch...

Hi David thanks - I have seen the PC200 but I had already purchased the ESU. In the end I decided to keep the points separately controlled from the signal. I told eLink the signal is controlled by a port on a non-existent Switchpilot (DCC 101) and successfully programmed it to that address. The feather is cotnrolled by point 1 switching to the right. All I can say is this is the first DCC concepts signal I have bought and I will be getting more. The only minor snag is you cannot use the built in power clip if you want to site the signal on the right hand side of a track (as I wanted to do here) However removing it and using soldered wiring was straightforward. Here is the result