LDM34046

Rolling stock has been the source of motivation over the last few days! Working through weathering each wagon, learning a few different techniques. Really happy with how these two have turned out. A mix of acrylics and weathering powders to achieve the finished results. Also picked up some more mineral wagons from a fellow modeller on Instagram, stevejonesweathering, who has done a brilliant job of weathering them. The 3-link couplings are also a nice addition, with tension locks on either end of the rake.

With my involvement in the Chatham Railway Club, my interest in mainline running has grown and I’ve started to accumulate rolling stock that I wouldn’t run on my two smaller layouts. The first is a nice rake of Mk1 Crimson & Cream coaches, something I’ve wanted for a while. It’s been proving quite tricky to get hold of these desirable coaches at a reasonable price however two have been sourced already. The weathering from the previous owner still needs to be addressed but it’s been an enjoyable process learning about to the different rakes, formations and coach types! The Class 24 ‘D5094’ also returns from Coastal DCC having been chipped and fitted with DCC sound. Although it’s spent most of its time thrashing around the club layout, it’s been nice to have it trundling about Dewar’s Street ticking away. Right at home amongst the trees! ‘614’ also returns, the latest addition to the Peckett fleet. Again, DCC fitted and with a juicy stay-alive capacitor! As much as it looks rather dapper and shiny, I’m looking forward to seeing this one weathered.

Well I’ve been rather quiet and inactive! Well over a month! Personal life has been rather eventful and work life has been rather busy! That being said, a few updates of what I’ve been up to! At the end of February, Lancaster Lane attended the one-day show at Tonbridge, the last show till September. An incredibly busy show and more lovely comments and conversations regarding the size of the layout. Great to see a few RMwebbers and some well know layouts there. Back home and updates on Dewar’s Street. Work has continued on the trees and everything is starting to look a lot greener! The first set of trees have now been flocked and planted. It has made a huge difference already although more trees still need to be made to build up the layers and density. The initial height of the forest has been achieved and I’m happy with the results.

Thank you! I’m glad it lived up to expectations! The 25 always seems to be a crowd pleaser at shows and is something a bit different from the norm. As for CV settings and for getting smooth running it’s a number of factors. All the locos feature stay-alive capacitors to help with any dirt on the track. That also aids slow running over pointwork. As for the CV’s themselves, I use DecoderPro on my laptop, wired to the layout via an Arduino. The softwares gives visual speed step graph and is much easier to work. The Class 25’s speed steps… The W4 Peckett… If I get a minute tonight I’ll find out what the Start, Mid & Max voltage CV’s are along with the acceleration and de-acceleration. That might be able to help you!

Update from the Longfield Model Railway Exhibition. The show was a success and the largest we’ve exhibited at with Lancaster Lane. The joys of building and taking down the layout in 15 minutes adds to the ease of logistics I must say! Those keen eye’d will notice the control panel on the front has disappeared as per my previous post. Relocated around the back to make operating easier and much more civilised for on-lookers. A removable facia was also added to the fiddle yard to neaten up the front and to stop any stray rolling stock falling off the front when exhibiting from behind. Plenty of nice comments and a few keen invitations to a couple of local shows later in the year which is always greatly appreciated. For now, a nice calendar break till the next show at Tonbridge mid-February. A chance to help at the club, focus on Dewar’s Street and work a few little projects I’ve had in mind.

Playing around with some more seafoam this evening. Working on bulking out the background to give that woodland feel. Happy with the overall height of these large tall trees that’ll sit at the back, now to get some shorter rounder plants to fill out the gaps. The large oak my dad made has moved to the tree line that’ll sit in front of the brewery to blend that into the background. A couple of smaller saplings have been placed in front of the road and cottage, again, like the brewery, to help blend it in. The initial shapes still need perfecting and a lot of the armatures needs soaking and straightening out before scatter is added but I’m happy with the rough look so far.

Lancaster Lane was originally built on my desk at home during lockdown so the switch panel and controller were mounted on the front. At the show’s the layout is operated from the front however it can be awkward at times, especially when leaning across the layout to uncouple trains. The plan is to simply relocate the control panel from the front of the layout to the rear so it can be operated centrally from the back facing forward. Yes, the next show is Longfield next weekend, hosted by Erith MRS.

Back home after a great weekend at Canterbury MRS. The layout was faultless and some lovely comments from the onlookers. A few small changes to make the layout easier to operate at shows however they’ll be implements towards the end of the exhibition calendar this year. Next stop, Erith! Another great show next weekend.

Another addition the roster arrives in the form of D5094 from Bachmann. With the Class 25 and 08 already in the fleet, I couldn’t resist this 24, a model I’ve wanted for a while with the bonus of being weathered by TMC. Compared to other models I’ve had I’m blown away by the extent of the bag of detailing bits it comes with to add which will be done when the model returns from having its DCC wizardry installed. I fear myself slipping down the route of BR Green and mainline diesels not to mention there’s still an itch for thumpers and third-rail EMU’s…Whoops! I suspect this new club layout hasn’t helped my new found interest! 😂

It’s been a busy few weeks at work but last thing Thursday night I managed to dust off Lancaster Lane for it’s first 2023 appearance. To my relief everything was fine. Only a short hop down the motorway to the Canterbury Model Railway Show. The layout performed flawlessly and the locos were well behaved. The 08 did most of the leg work although the Pecketts continue to be a real crowd pleaser! Same again tomorrow!

In other news, I've joined a club. I've always been a tad sceptical of clubs and some of their 'cult-like' characteristics and hierarchy systems however I was invited along to a club open day over the festive period at Chatham & District Model Railway Club, located in the wonderful Historic Chatham Dockyard. Their laid back way of operating, modern forms of communications and friendly club evenings meant I've taken the plunge to join and decided to be sociable. Not the bedroom dwelling railway modeller I once was! One of the main benefits is their beautiful permanent 00 gauge DCC club layout. It's vast layout of mainline running, branch lines, terminus and through stations and is nice change to operate compared to my 5ft shunting layouts. It is also a great opportunity for me to do more photography and potentially buy stock and locos I wouldn't normal run or have the space for. The layout has also provided the chance for my small fleet of locos to stretch their legs on the continuous mainline and get a 'proper good' running in with some nice rakes of stock. My confidence in modelling has picked up since joining and have a few projects on the go with other members which would normally be out of my comfort zone. I don't intend to drag my layout thread down to much with club photos and updates, however I thought I'd share this wonderful little club and the warm welcome and reception I've had. Not to mention the beautiful layout.

A delivery has arrived from the lovely chaps at Modelu. These should keep me busy!

Much better. There’s still a long way to go with this area. For starters there’s a slight curve in the roof of the leading garage which needs addressing. Window glazing needs to be sorted. Signage needs to be added along with the usual garage paraphernalia. The interior will be detailed with a few items from Modelu along with some 3D printed details. Lighting will also be addressed, although it’s part of a larger project to light the rest of the layout’s buildings.

Which brings me up to date with this morning’s project. Working on the garages. I started by spraying the model with a coat of grey primer. A heavy dark wash was applied over the model to pick out the wooden slats. The excess was wiped off leaving the grime in the corners and edges. The roof was then painted with a few coats of Vallejo Light Green. Weathering consisted of soot & rust weathering powders, used sparingly in a downwards motion to give a streaky rain swept look. This was done on the walls and corrugated roof. Finished off with a light coat of Matte Varnish. Back in situ on the layout. Job done. Very happy with the result.

As for locomotive updates, the roster has increased and a few more projects have joined the workbench list. ’D3881’ Class 08 The 08 returns to Dewar’s Street having been away having DCC & Stay-alive fitted. This is Bachmann’s recent tooling of the model and offers lovely smooth running. The paintwork is crisp and the factory weathering is surprisingly nice and not overkill. It’s a firm favourite of mine as it potters around shunting wagons. ‘68225’ J70 In all honesty, I picked up this model in March last year as it’s spent the rest of the year sitting in its box. It’s now fitted with DCC and joins the layout fleet. It’s my first model from Rapido and I’m blown away by the quality. A lovely smooth silent motor and incredible detail, right down to chains hanging down on the skirts. I’ve got a good list projects for this loco including weathering, fitting a crew, fitting the doors and adding some suitable nameplates. ‘614’ Peckett Santa didn’t disappoint this Christmas and another Peckett has found its way onto the Dewar’s Street fleet. Is it fair to say I’ve got a soft spot for these now? I’ve been struggling to find a nice example of this Limited Edition Hornby Centenary Year model but at Warley I managed to get my hands on a brand new example. The ‘Photographic Grey’ paint scheme is rather striking and incredibly neat credit to Hornby. Again a little project waiting to be weathered, although going for more of a polished and ‘well-looked-after’ finish. Queen Mary Brake Van Only one new item of rolling stock to update on and I’m sure it’ll leave a lot of heads to be scratched. Although the Queen Mary brake vans were built in 1936, way before my era modelled, they were built for the SR and never made it up north. (Not that I’m aware of). Kernow were offering these lovely Bachmann examples for a steal of a price and I felt I couldn’t miss out! Completely in the wrong era and livery, I thought this model would be good practice to try my hand at respraying an RTR model without breaking the bank. It’s going to be a ‘what-if’ model, most likely finished in BR Grey or BR Bauxite and heavily weathered.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and Happy New Year! Let’s see what 2023 brings us all. It’s fair to say the last two weeks has all been a bit of a blur but I got up early today and had a solid day of modelling. Time for a much needed update!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a wonderful festive break.

A bit more housekeeping on the layout. Literally speaking. I finally found some courage to make a start on the first of two scratch aid buildings. I had been toying between the two modelling methods of either using clay or wills embossed sheets. After a lengthy chat with ‘Petite Properties’ at the Warley show along with some valuable tutorials and tips I settled on the carving method. Happy with the progress so far. I’ve done one coat so far of cheap filler and sanded it down. It was tricky to keep the wall thickness the same across the model along with keeping the windows and doors looking neat. I need to do a second application to fill in a few small holes and cracks but then it’s the exciting stage of carving in all the details and brick work. A job I’m looking forward to doing over the Christmas period.

It’s fair to say that an update is due. So hello. It’s been a while. A few little projects I’ve been working on the background. A few weeks ago I lost a lot of momentum for the layout but a much needed holiday aboard and a few small projects on the sideline have kick started my love for the hobby again. Not to mention a trip to Warley… The first major project and the one that took the longest to design and build was a new lighting rig for the layout. For those that have followed the thread for a while know that I’ve struggled with getting the lighting right, especially on dark winter evenings but my problems have now been resolved. Built by my dad over a few days the new frame incorporates an LED smart panel controlled with an iPhone app. The app allows me to change the warmth and brightness of the light to help create different scenes. With a bit of help from photoshop, changing the lighting on the layout can create two very different scenes from the same angle. With the added light also comes the increased photo quality allow much shaper images. A win win on all fronts.

It’s been a while…

A few more trees added to the layout yesterday. Slowly coming together. Mixing up the foliage with different shades of scatter to mix up the different trees. Building up the area around the house but need to pick up a another box of seafoam for the larger trees behind the station. Also jotting some ideas together for the lighting situation to eliminate the yellow hue and make the photos a bit sharper.

I’m glad I can be of inspiration! Looking forward to seeing your results!

Running around these forums, spreading nothing but skills and inspiration! Blasphemy!