Manxcat

My club is about to start its latest OO gauge layout which will, I am sure, be transported and exhibited many times. It is planned to be 25 feet long and a continuous run so, of course, there will be very many breaks in the track at the baseboard joints. So my question is this. What method do you or your club use to ensure alignment and good running across the joints and what advantages and disadvantages are there to the various methods available? On my own layouts I have used various solutions over the years. These include (1) tiny brass screws under the rails at the edges to which the rail bottom is soldered (2) a strip of sleeper wide copper clad paxolin glued to the baseboard to which the rails are soldered and (3) proprietary track with plastic sleepers arranged so that a fishplate for each joint can be slid back off the joint for transportation then replaced at set up at the show. I'd love to know of any other methods and what you think is the best. For several years now my club has fashioned a protective piece of hardboard secured to the ends of every baseboard to avoid the nasty effect of a jersey catching the rail ends and causing a lot of damage. Thanks, Archie

Tony, A quick check I did today confirms jonny777's information. He just managed to pip me to the posting post. I discovered a picture of D 9005 The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire showing the same headcode. (I have not reproduced it here for copyright reasons.) This set me off on a slight tangent because I was intrigued to discover that there seem to be three views as to the correct name for D 9005. One is Wales another Wales's and the third Wales' and I wanted to know which is correct. It took a little time to find a good side on shot of the loco clearly showing the nameplate. It reads The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire. You learn something new every day! Archie

Tony, perhaps at Model Rail Scotland 2019 I could sit beside you for an hour or two and act as an interpreter! My pet hate is the insidious use of the phrase "should of" when the writer actually means "should have" or "should've". Until a year ago I had only ever seen that phrase in writing. I had never heard it actually used in speech. That may be down to the fact that if one says "should of" quite quickly then it can indeed sound like "should've". The person I was speaking to actually said "I should of known....." and when he uttered those words they came out exactly as he would have written them. Sometimes I despair. More power to your elbow Tony or, as they would say in Glasgow "Gaun yersel Tony boy".

I thought I should add to my post above that I was very quickly told that ex-LNER lattice post home signals did not have red finials, which was something only done by the GWR. I immediately changed them all to white. I fear the spirit of my formative GWR modelling beginnings crept in. Archie

Tony, Thank you. What an interesting question, which left me pondering my reply for quite some time. There are a number of reasons. The main one is this. It gives me a lot of pride to say "My friend Tony Wright built that loco for me" with my main delight being that you first called me "friend" after knowing me for just a short time. Your undoubted skills in loco kit building mean that any you build for me will be to a very high standard and I relish that. If I interpret what you asked correctly, I think you are hinting that my plasticard loco is proof that I could tackle a kit built loco and make a decent job of it. So let me tell you, I have a white metal kit which has been in a drawer in several of the houses I have lived in for the last 25 years or more. I have resolved to make a start on it and not put it back in the drawer only partially completed. I have only ever tried a brass chassis once and made a complete mess of it. Maybe I need some hints on how that should be done. I think I should buy one of the chassis jigs you use, if they are still made. I am fearful of putting the soldering iron through a casting but your soldering tutorial at Peterborough some time ago, which I watched beside you, gives me some confidence. I can build my own operating MSE lattice post signal kits so why not a brass chassis? It may take a year but I promise to show you my loco when it is finished. It is now out of the drawer, as the attached photo shows. Oh my goodness, do you see what reading Wright Writes is doing to me! Archie

I am always heartened by the positivity of the posts on these pages and by the advice to have a go at something new because that is the only way to discover your abilities and hone them. The recent discussion on the hauling power of kit built locos sparked a memory in me and I thought I might share the story for those who may be interested, I started modelling in my early teens, which was around 1970, and always bought the Railway Modeller magazine. I had quickly discovered the merits of working with plasticard and felt that, over the years, my skills in its use were getting better. In those days, under the editorship of Cyril Freezer if I remember correctly, almost every edition of RM had an article with a GWR layout in it. In my case this resulted in me becoming that most unusual of people - a Scottish modeller of the GWR. Every issue also had the scale drawings for a locomotive. I had never attempted to construct a white metal or brass loco kit and so when I decided I would like a loco which was not available ready to run I resolved to try to make it in plasticard. I wanted one which would however fit a proprietary 0-6-0 chassis with either one or two bogies which I could fit. I knew even then that a heavy chassis would be required for hauling power because the body was going to be quite featherlight. I chose the loco concerned from a copy of RM with the relevant plan and bought the extras such as the chimney, dome, buffers, handrail knobs and wire, etc.. And then I made it, out of plasticard and balsa wood. I fitted it to the chassis, primed and painted it and added transfers and it ran as sweet as a nut. I used it for many years until a bigger boy spoke to me behind the university bike shed and asked if I'd like to try a bit of BR Blue. I knew I had some photos of that GWR loco somewhere and today I found them. I apologise straight away for the bad quality. They are three slides (remember those) which were not the best quality in the first place and digitising them has not made them any better. To my dismay I have no shot of the completed model but the three attached let you see how it progressed to the stage where it was always complete. The loco is number 3901 as can just be seen from the cab side number plate in the third image. On comparing it to a picture of the prototype I think it was a fair representation of the real thing. I even put GWR headlamps on it Tony! I hope it shows how, if you try, you may just be surprised at what you can do. I'd love to know what Tony and others think of it. Thanks. Archie

Tony, When you build a kit such as one of the Thane of Fife locos do you always have to add or modify something to make them "right" from your point of view? For example, does the kit include the small smoke deflectors by the chimney or do you have to fashion and add them? You have said you add pipes made of fuse wire sometimes. Your coupling choice excepted, what is the most often required addition or modifictaion to the many kits you have built please? Archie

A thousand pages. Wow. So much information, entertainment, support and fun. If you don't count the speed of rotation of the planet, I am typing this at home, sitting at my desk at zero miles per hour. Archie

I have to say that while I often find the humorous comments in some posts on Wright Writes very funny, this is the first time I have literally laughed out loud upon reading one. That one line paints a vivid picture of frustration bottled up for the sake of politeness and yet precariously teetering on the verge of explosion. I love this thread. Archie

Tony, I wonder if you would answer a question which is purely hypothetical please? I'd just love to know the answer. Perhaps others here would too. If an exceptionally rich modeller made herself known to you at a show and said "I model in OO gauge 4mm scale and want to buy your layout Little Bytham. Name your price and I will pay it.", would you be tempted to sell? I'm not prying into the price you would want you understand, I'm just interested to know if LB has an "offer you couldn't refuse" price. Archie

I do love a very heavily weathered loco, although the weathering on most of my motive power (steam and green diesel) is either light or medium. The attached photo, taken by Nigel Burkin, is my favourite piece of rolling stock. It is also the one I use as my profile picture. I cannot, unfortunately, claim to be the weathering artist. That distinction rests with someone at TMC in Beck Hole. It has however inspired me to try weathering my most recent purchase. This loco has the lamp glued in place so it is currently lamped as a pick up goods and not a light engine as it should be.

A cameo at the harbour on my layout Fairhaven Road.

John, Thank you so much for your advice. I will most certainly alter my green DMUs accordingly, very soon. Thank you, too, to everyone else who commented so helpfully. It is the main reason I like RM Web as much as I do. If you look carefully you will see in the same photograph that the brake van also has a tail lamp which is lit. I bought a set of the lamps, with tiny red surface mounting LEDs wired into them, from DCC Concepts just to see if I could fit them, hide the wires and make them work from pick ups on all four wheels. I took the time to try a number of different values of resistor to reduce the brightness of the lamp since it was otherwise as garishly bright as the DMU tail lamps. I operate with DCC so the lamp is lit all the time the van is on the track. You will see from the photos that my layout has two loops so we are getting into the sphere of brake vans with three rear lamps on a train in the loop having to have the lamp nearest the main line changed from red to white by the guard. I guess there may be a way to use a DCC function decoder to make that happen but I'll leave that for the time being I think. Your advice, John, has now prompted me to think about fitting one of these lit tail lamps to each of my DMUs. Clearly the wiring is there for the DMU marker lights so presumably it could be utilised to work the tail lamp, hopefully without too much work. Archie

I'm no professional photographer but I try my best. So here are three shots of my layout. Tony's advice to me about a year ago now was to fit my locos with lamps since they would never run without them. So now I have a set of lamps which can be "tacky waxed" in place on the lamp irons according to the class of train. None of the attached photos have been altered to disguise the background or backscene gaps. I'll get round to that one day. I was never really a lover of what one might call gimmicks on a layout but with this layout I relented and incorporated one. Its a broken down Triumph with the hood up. There is a Seuthe smoke unit set into the road below the car which is filled with smoke oil before the start of any exhibition day. A switch on the operator's side of the layout feeds in the 12v to make it produce smoke. The viewers find this far more entertaining than I ever imagined they would.

I'd like to say a very heartfelt "Thank You" to those who kindly voted for Model Rail Scotland in the BRM Awards Best Model Railway Show category. This resulted in our show coming third in the rankings behind first prize winners Warley and second prize winner the London Festival of Railway Modelling. Also, our congratulations to our friends at Warley who were worthy winners. Archie

Bob, Thank you for your kind words. I am indeed Archie Brown and Hatton Heath was my layout. Alan Johnston created the theatre indicator for the signal concerned which could show a 1, 2, 3 or 4 for the four platforms and an L for the goods loop. This was a long time before the miniaturisation of the electronics for such an indicator and so it was a bit big but it drew lots of comment. The points and signals were fully operated and, as you say, with our strong interest in S & T we used block instruments and bells to signal the trains. I have attached three photos. Horrible, grainy and out of focus because my photography skills then were not what they are now but I hope they bring back the memories. Archie

Some posts about the MacLellan Galleries on here are certainly bringing out the nostalgia in me. When I was still at secondary school a friend of mine in the same class told me he was helping to operate a small demonstration layout by one of the main manufacturers and suggested I would really like the show. He was certainly an avid railway enthusiast, to the extent in fact that with any piece of homework he had to do he would do his best to incorporate a railway theme. I took his advice and visited the show on the Saturday. From stepping into the main hall I was hooked. My one abiding memory of that show is the layout known as Cardean, by Clydeside MRC. An L-shaped OO gauge terminus with the multi-platform station on the longer, left hand leg of the L viewed from inside the L. The feature I liked best was the branch which climbed away from the station and over the main line to a small branch line station called Alt-Na-Bhob. That small station hid the fiddle yard on the lower level behind it. I watched it for a long time and chose to start modelling from then on. That was 1971 and a few years later I joined Glasgow & West of Scotland MRC of which I am still a member. Out of nostalgia, respect or whatever you want to call it, I have incorporated a reference to Cardean in every layout I have built since then, usually by way of a road sign showing "Cardean 6 Miles". My current layout "Fairhaven Road" has the wording "Fairhaven Road - Change for Cardean" on two of the station nameboards. There is a separate RM Web thread about Fairhaven Road. I have a copy of a magazine article on Cardean from that year and have attached scans of the three pages to fuel the nostalgia even further!

Hoovernut, Friday can be a lot busier than the Saturday or the Sunday. Whether you want to see the layouts with less of a crowd or to get into the trade stands more easily, you should find the Saturday or Sunday less busy. In fact when some of the traders, notable Squires, send out flyers for the show they do in fact mention that the Saturday and Sunday are less busy. Of course if you are after a bargain on some particular item you could miss out by attending later. And of course this year, if you want one of the Limited Edition Class 47 locos they may well sell out on the Friday. Whatever you decide I hope you thoroughly enjoy this year's show. Archie

Re my previous post, I have found a photo too!

I resolved a long, long time ago never to have a wedding outside the church on any of my layouts. On my current layout I have clergymen and women chatting outside and a monk laying flowers at one of the gravestones. Sometimes its good to step off the more well trodden path. Archie

This year we have something new and we hope you like it. There will be a Vintage Bus service to link Glasgow City Centre with Model Rail Scotland 2018 We are going to run a FREE vintage bus service from George Square (Queen Street), stopping at Central Station, SEC hall 3 (outside our event door) then onto the Riverside Museum. The Bus will then run the return journey. Bus will depart George Square on the Hour from 10:00 each morning until 16:00. xx:00 - Depart George Square (Bus stop outside George house) xx:05 - Central Station(Bus Stop on union Street) xx:15 - SEC - Model Rail Scotland Hall 3 xx:20 - Riverside Bus will depart Riverside on the Half hour from 10:30 each morning until 16:30 xx:30 Depart Riverside xx:35 SEC - Model Rail Scotland Hall 3 xx:45 Central Station Bus stop on Argyle Street xx:50 George Square So if you visit the show we are not only making it easier to pop along to the Riverside Museum, but you have an easy link from the door outside hall 3 to both Central And Queen Street Railway stations reducing the walking to save your legs for walking around the show. Please see the routes which mark the bus stops. All times are subject to change without notice

I don't mean to pry Tony but you're not getting rid of LB are you? Perhaps you have somewhere else for you and your friends to build the new layout. It would surely be a wrench to let LB go. Archie

You may have seen the banner on the Rmweb home page that shows the voting for the British Model Railway Awards is now open. I for one have now voted for LB as the Layout of the Year and for Tony as the RM Web Modeller of the Year. If you vote for them as well maybe we could all bring both awards Tony's way. Go on. You know it makes sense!

As you may have seen from the rmweb home page, the voting is now open for the British Model Railway Awards. We are delighted that Model Rail Scotland is one of the nominees in the Best Exhibition category. If you love the show please vote for us and spread the word about the survey. Thanks.

It is now only 8 weeks until Hall 3 of the SEC in Glasgow will resound again to the hubbub of Scotland's premier model railway show. The Exhibition Team have once again put together what promises to be a great show with at least 50 layouts of varied scales and gauges from all over the UK. There will be a mix of preservation societies and hobby supporters and of course a wide and varied selection of trade stands and model railway manufacturers. New traders to the show this year will give an even greater diversity of modelling items for sale so that you can hopefully find those otherwise hard to source supplies. The show opens on Friday 23rd February from 10:30am to 6pm; on Saturday 24th February from 10am to 6pm and on Sunday 25th February from 10:30am to 5pm. Advance tickets, costing £1 less than the price at the door, are already on sale. As always, advance ticket holders will be admitted 30 minutes before those visitors buying their ticket on the day of the show. A copy of the comprehensive exhibition guide printed to the same high quality as always is included free with all adult and family tickets. You can order advance tickets for the show on our website at www.modelrail-scotland.co.uk using PayPal. You can also find out lots more about the show on the website. Don't forget that we will have an exclusive limited edition Class 47 by Bachmann available for purchase at the show, number 47 708 Waverley. See the separate RM Web thread under the topic Bachmann Class 47 708 Waverley - Model Rail Scotland Ltd Edition Model The SEC is a great exhibition venue for Model Rail Scotland and 2018 will be the show's 30th year there. Myself and the team look forward to seeing you there. Archie Brown Chairman Association of Model Railway Societies in Scotland