Dava

Update from Nova Scotia on modelling....no Easter shows to go to here, sunny but lots of slowly thawing snow. Weekend means progress on the micro-layout with track being laid. Here is the base material for the sector table, a corrugated plastic card sign from Dollarama! Back to the layout, quite a lot of track preparation work done since, wire drops soldered to the track sections, alignments and test running done. Everything takes longer with the wrist still in plaster, but I'm learning to re-use hand tools like files, hacksaw, even soldering iron, so I guess its good exercise. Here is the layout from the sector table end, the table has glued reinforcements at each edge and pivots from a bolt in an aluminium tube. The tracks will be laid next on the table with the siding coming off being last. All similar to the design on 'Coney Hill; but in board not plywood. From the siding end, the tracks are down and minor fettling & adjustments needed together with point control. Finally, the layout now has a name....'Coxheath Sidings' named after the district we live in. Lets assume the sidings serve a loading dock off an industrial railway. What the traffic is remains to be seen. After the track is down the wiring will be next, nice and simple.... Dava

Fantastic model. The full engineering details between the frames are modeled more accurately than most working models. I'm in awe. Dava

Good to see real 60s-70s loco, train, ship, docks, cars, bike.... Dava

Just to say I fitted the baseboard dowel joiners this weekend, as below. We'll have to see how these stand up to use as they're mounted in foamboard. Called in at Dollarama & got a corrugated plastic-card 'A Vendre' sign which could be the basis of the sector table, with reinforcement. They also sell foamboard without the card outer covering. Return trip to hospital yesterday got the wrist re-cast for the next 3-4 weeks. No more mobility but the modelling & light tool use is good therapy & keeps muscles flexing even if results a bit iffy. Also managed to start a home brew kit last night! Dava

The cape Breton line is covered in snow, but now starting to thaw so I got a few pictures like this below We had a meeting in North Sydney last night with folks interested in the campaign to safeguard the line http://t.co/UOaJrpTzN4 This centres on the Marine Atlantic link ferries to Newfoundland. One was stuck in the ice for 3 days last week! The Sydney Coal Railway continues to operate. I sat in a meeting with a client last week & saw 2 trains go past but could not take photos as I was working...! So here are two photos of the coal terminal at Sydney from a distance, note the ice in the second. And spot the train...

Yes they are lubricator oil boxes Only some Terriers had them at some times, eg A1 Boxhill in 1929 as Brighton Loco Works shunter The Colin Binnie drawing of A1x IoW 32650 has them on both tanks So again best to model a specific loco from photos at a specific time! Dava

Oregon should be OK, above 0 most of this winter, Detroit should be interesting!

Thanks for photos Its finished, done, beyond help & reasonable restoration. We've lost historic ships in better condition. Let's move on! Dava

Progress on the layout has really just been gluing bits of foamboard, working out how to fix the boards together - looks like a pair of Walsworth Models spring dowels I bought may be the answer - and shunting a loco up & down. So no photos. Meanwhile the weather has been spectacular with 2.5 storm days since Sunday & a 90cm dump of snow with lots of it blowing. No comparison with UK. Even locals amazed, despondent etc about this. So looked outside this morning.... Where's the drive? That's the house, dig here... Plow me out, big boy! Looks like back to work tomorrow. Mrs doesnt like driving in snow, I can't drive cos of my wrist. Hope the snow holds off Saturday as we need to stock up on Big Spruce Beer & painkillers (& other stuff). Also hope to work on layout with sense of renewed meaning in life. Dava

How about avoiding individual vendettas? Mr Martindale has probably done more than any of us would or could, but without gaining political backing it will not happen. Comparison with the Border \ Waverley route is relevant. Dava

Another snow day today, there was about 60cm by this morning. Crazy weather, we could not go out. We got plowed out mid-afternoon but work was closed so after doing some tasks at home it was back to the foam-boards. Here are the undersides with cross-bracing added & corner stiffeners from cat food card packaging. I will have to devise a baseboard fixing. Then the boards were put on the workbench and some track added. This shows the rough layout with 2 sidings, a point, and track on the right end where the sector table will be. The Sentinel is fine on this little layout, you will be able to fit 3 wagons in each siding. Snowing again so we'll have to see if we can get out tomorrow! Dava

Cape Breton update No trains running, the line covered with snow, there is a blizzard raging outside. However we are forming the Scotia Rail Development Society to make the case for the line to regenerate the local economy - more news soon. Meanwhile, I glimpsed this intermodal trailer yesterday as an example of the kind of traffic it could carry. I think Keith Richards would have liked this one. Legalisation of marijuana may be on the way and how better to transport it than...in a reefer? Skin up, guys! Dava

After sunny cold weather the last few days there is a snowstorm here with up to 30cm now falling, so not spring yet. We had a trip out to replenish beer, foamboard & other supplies yesterday! I have made progress on the baseboards. The second one has had the top laminated, side & end rails cut. I'll assemble it later today. Using adhesive tape to hold the parts while PVA glue sets is not ideal as it peels the paper off when removed! Pic below shows the first board with some track for testing. I'll add backboards after the track is down. It looks like a simple track layout with 2 sidings on 1 board, 1 serving a loading dock, and a sector plate on the other also serving a short siding. Dava

With already preserved 2 x 44, 11 x 45, & 3x 46, what is the need to save this one? If anyone wanted it, it would have happened. Only 7 x 40s preserved for comparison. Dava

Tonight I cut side & end f-boards for 1 base & wood glued them on. Wrist being strapped up means quality of cut & fit is not great but it exercises hand & we'll see how its dried in the morning. I certainly couldn't have made anything else. May get the 2nd base done at weekend. Now recovering with Tylenol & Big Spruce Mr IncREDible, a fine strong beer. Dava

Leicester-Burton reopening would help regenerate a depressed ex mining area via a freight line in good condition which carries occasional steam charters. Closure of Snibston Discovery museum worsens it. Scotland has been more enlightened. I remember Keswick station in 1972 after it closed. A pretty line but realistically it will not reopen. Campaign to keep what you've got in Cumbria - the coast line is unique. Dava

Thanks for the amusement! Picture of sector table on last layout here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/65446-coney-hill-light-railway/ I'll take photos as it develops but this is painfully slow... Jim Read's traverser designs can be traced at http://www.jasread.com/micro/ Dava

Some Terriers did retain condenser pipes in SR days, even after rebuild with A1x boiler, whilst others lost them as A1s. The only authentic answer is to model a specific loco at that time. Dapol seem pretty close with their variants. Handal Kardas' book is worth having as a guide. Dava

Thanks again for advice. Today I laminated 2 layers of f-board for the base top & worked out how to do the frames. Slow progress as I'm not used to cutting left handed. I have a rough sketch plan with either traverser or sector plate. I used a 5mm ply sector on Coney Hill which worked well, the pivot bolt would sit in a wood insert. Jim Read uses multi track traversers with a thin base. Either way the deck would be ply or hard plastic not f-board. Dava

Any suggestions for bracing/frame method for 3x1 foam boards? Its 5mm thick All I can cut is f-board not wood so considering a 1" laminated frame round the edges with a 9" back scene board & crossbracing every 12" Advise welcome! Dava

Today to Staples, struck lucky with 10% off sale for female entrepreneurs! So Mrs bought the foam board display board which yields 4x3 ft lengths, + 5 sheets reduced f-board in sale. Now planning a 6x1 ft layout, the f-board will need bracing. Workbench cleared & point tested with short lengths of track + 02 diesel. Peco points are so long & I've no chance of building one. Planning 2 sidings on 1 board with a traversed or sector plate on the other. Retired to medicate throbbing wrist! Dava

Thanks for all suggestions, guys. Remoteness from IKEA (Toronto) and limitations of local stockists for other options points towards a saturday visit to Staples for Presentation Foam Board, "36" x 48" & maybe other options. Garage has workbench & table which can support a board, but they're not suitable for building a line directly on. I had a B&Q paste table for Coney Hill which worked well. We'll see. Can't wait to have somewhere to run that Dapol 'Terrier when it arrives'! Dava

Looking for the easy way out....last week I broke right wrist on sheet-ice (that's what I called it!) on the drive. Now strapped & plastered for next 6 weeks. Left hand has to do the work with right fingers holding things. I want to get some kind of very modest gauge 0 micro layout / test track under way as therapy, without any woodwork. I have 1 Peco point & assorted flexitrack. Inspired by Alan Wright, Jim Read, Carl Aren't ideas 6-8feet x 12-15ins, in 2 sections would fit. All Home Depot etc have are heavy Contiplas shelving. I don't have a spare door, too wide anyway. No APA boxes here! All ideas welcome, Dava

Seeing is believing (not that I'll be there to do either, sadly). Ixion also announce their new loco at Kettering, for which no doubt you may place an order with confidence! Dava

Sorry to advise that Network Rail & operating companies in UK also know how to substitute diesels & add diesel pushers to steam headed trains for the slightest risk, SO the steam loco does no work. Happened frequently in 2014. Aus Garratt looked great! Dava Sorry to advise that Network Rail & operating companies in UK also know how to substitute diesels & add diesel pushers to steam headed trains for the slightest risk, SO the steam loco does no work. Happened frequently in 2014. Aus Garratt looked great! Dava