Rowsley17D

Morning Gordon and good to have you posting again now that your modelling mojo appears to be returning. New year, new challenge so to speak, a change is as good as a rest and so on... Merry Christmas and a happy modelling New Year.

Morning Jeff, That tunnel mouth is looking the real deal and cannot wait to see it with it's surrounding hillside and tracks beneath. That's a lovely photo by Rob mgc (#2457). I take it's a WWll shot as the crimson rambler has been repainted wartime black with no lining? And yes, my last post has brought up "the ton".

Morning Jeff, That tunnel mouth is looking good. I am going to need three for my "last great project" and there are some excellent construction ideas in what you have done. I am more of a plastic and card than wood builder myself, but then wood is in your genes. As to the new Hornby stuff where the "real Andy P" wants everything, I'll go for the LMS CCT. It will be interesting to compare it with the Parkside ones in my parcels train.

Jeff, I'll let you have one on a semi-permanent loan, I'll not be needing mine for quite some time. PM with your address and I'll pop one in the post unless you feel like meeting up in town and I'll hand deliver it to you, I'm free Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday lunch time next week.

Morning Jeff, No posts yet? Are you out Christmas shopping? I've still not bought any presents yet, but it doesn't take long to write out a few cheques and put them in envelopes!! Back to railway matters - train detection. I couldn't use mirrors as it was too dark under my layout to see the FY. The units fit under the baseboard, a la turnout motors, with the infrared detector poking up through the board and level with the sleeper tops. hence the need to drill a pilot hole now and nothing lost if you don't go down this route. They work on 16 v ac, so I assume can be run from the track bus? (sorry I'm no electrician even less so in DCC) so just the wires back to the panel for the diodes. I have 10 units, one for each storage road, 5 on the up, 5 on the down.

Then before creating your section of the Pennines, I would advise drilling a pilot hole in between two sleepers at the end of each storage track in your FY where you want your locos to stop, ie before they foul the trailing turnout that returns it to the main line. If you want to fit detectors at a later date you will know where to drill to fit the infra red detector ( fits easily between two sleepers especially at SMP spacing).

Then http://www.heathcote-electronics.co.uk/prodindx.htm are who you want. No connection other than a satisfied customer. Other suppliers are no doubt available.

I seem to remember high minus teens for the lowest of our overnight temperatures, my car at the time didn't have a gauge, but my new one does. I know the condensate pipe on the condensing boiler froze up a few times and stopped the boiler working even though it was lagged. Took it off completely in the end. I had a hidden fiddleyard on my last layout and had detectors under the tracks where I wanted the engine to stop. A red/green LED on the panel showed whether the storage line was occupied or not. It saved me from looking under the main layout level to see where the trains were. How will you know where your trains are under that rendition of the Pennines you're planning?

Morning Jeff, -5C in Wensleydale this morning and not much warmer here in TS17. Thanks for the pic of the panel, that's some panel, even I wouldn't need me glasses to use that! I made the same mistake on my last, now unfinished, creation by not wiring all crossovers etc in pairs, but am forewarned for the next.

We only went on to Vista!!!!! last year, aaahhhhhh!!! Anyway glad to hear you are on the mend. I've started that Black 5 but been held up with the valve gear, more like watch making than modelling and I have had to get a new pair of specs that enable me to work up close. Just about sorted now so it will be ready July, I hope.

Bu**er that Jeff, get all the whisky inside you that you can, I say. At least you'll forget what you've got. Must get on with this Black 5 if it is to be ready for your open day. (I should have posted this yesterday but gremlings either struck my 'pooter or the site, probably my 'pooter, cheap civil service stuff.)

Morning Jeff,I too like Sandside favour latex over PVA for ballasting. If you need larger quantities of the stuff, then DIY chains sell it for sticking carpet down. However, it's not as smooth as Copydex and needs to be thoroughly mixed with water. The Carrs ballast is made from a material similar to wood so helping with sound deadening.

Morning Jeff, Good to see progress with the FY. That four letter word "work" has got in the way of making posts, plus moving some of my things to the new house. Even managed to lay a three or four packs of loft boarding, so that I can get the ladder fixed. If you don't get a move on I'll catch up with you!!

From reading model railway mags in the 70s I seem to remember that this too set like concrete but was widely used. Could it have been cheaper than PVA which I seem to remember was hard to get hold of? I don't think there were any generic versions but could only be bought as "Marvin Medium" at least that is what they used in schools at the time.

Hi Gordon, sorry to hear about the problems with ballasting. I have been a firm user of latex and the wet method. It does not set like concrete unlike PVA and helps with sound deadening. However after reading about the virtues of Johnson's Kleer on various threads I am going to experiment with this before ballasting my planned project. I guess like most things it is each to his own and whatever works for you.

Looks like it, you can just make it out in the photo if you look very hard.

Yes, that's all . A premium is paid to be hauled by steam and only a quarter of the journey was, but you can bet there will be no partial refund, small print and all that.

Morning Jeff, been away from the 'puter over the weekend and find I have four pages to catch up on! The Tynesider trip went well apart from the lack of A4 haulage. Sir NG failed somewhere on Teesside on Thursday with valve trouble so the only part of the journey with steam was York-KX but I doubt there will be little if anything in the way of recompence, still everything went to time only a few minutes late either way. We must have had a boy racer from KX to York as according to those with measuring devices, we were clocking 100 mph in Mk1s with the catering staff trying to serve dinner. We arrived at Doncaster twenty minutes early.

Hi Jeff, Yes I am following progress on my lunch break. Just heard the chime whistle of an A4 just now. I am on the Tynesider on Saturday, Newcastle to KX, Sir NG to York then Union of S Africa to KX. It has be be diesel back due to pathing difficulties, but since it will dark... Another new comer is planning Millers Dale so we might get the Peak District thread section yet. It will be a while before anything recognisable as a layout will emanate from me. I have the loft ladder and the floor boarding. I have to fix the ladder, fit a few boards so the builder can fit a couple of Veluxes, get the electrician in (no DIY since the law changed), demolish part of the chimney/roof beam wall that's not doing anything, fit the rest of the floor boards, insulate the rafters and board out the walls. If I were Larry it would be done by Sunday!! I'll have it finished by Sunday too, but I not saying which one.

It is large Jeff, but the floor will extend back into the eves so that I can store my railway stuff underneath and no doubt the odd Christmas decoration. The actual area of the layout/operating space is just over 300 sq ft. Looking forward to the pic as usual.

Gordon, Thanks for the advice about creating the curve first. I was making the turnout first then trying to fit the plain track around it, but now something has started to fall into place. If you could put a "Bluffer's guide to Templot" on the Templot/Handbuilt Track forum there will be may avid readers, I'm sure, Jeff included. Although Templot is free, donations can be made. Sorry to hi-jack your thread Jeff.

Morning Jeff, Just seems the right day for modelling, rain in the air, leadened skies, middle of November. Hope you have a good day in the bunker. How do you go about getting turnouts built to your requirements btw, especially the curved ones? I know you originally planned for Peco so how did you convert from Peco turnouts to Marcway/SMP? I may need several curved turnouts but until I can get to grips with Templot I don't know what size I require. I may have a go at building some myself but it would be good to have a back-up of custom made ones. I am busy buying up a well-known DIY store's supply of loft boarding as they have a 3 for 2 offer on at the moment and will need at least 364 sq ft of the stuff, that's 33 packs, so only another 12 to buy.

It doesn't matter how much space we have, we will still want more until the space outstrips the budget, but it would be nice to have that problem.

On lunch and back from Northallerton, went on business. Thinking of Northallerton LNER, it must have been a great place in steam days when the Leeds Northern was still there and the Wensleydale branch. Today's station is a travesty of what it must have been at one time, just a couple of draughty bus shelters now. Never saw the old station, only in photos. When we are immersed in a project it is hard to think back from where we came and just how much has been achieved to get where we are. Just remember, at one time your railway room was a garage. Looking back at the past year (with still a month and a half to go) I have met a lovely lady and decided to get married, bought a new home and planning the last great project (with due reverence to Ken Payne, but his was 0 gauge).

Hi Jeff, Just catching up having been working on the new abode doing odds and sods over the weekend so no RMweb. Good to see so much progress and hopefully the juice will soon be on. Off to Northallerton now for a couple of hours but it's not to the ECML.