Woody C

If I were fortunate enough to own the shunter with the history it has I would be immensely proud too! Thank you for posting the wonderful picture and having now located my box of MT magazines I will have to make time to reminisce and find the article your shunter featured in. Thank you also for the history of MT. I recall it turning (which must have been the point that Chris left) from an excellent magazine to one where each issue suddenly seemed to have page after page each month on the 16 ton mineral wagon. Great if you were interested in the multitude of variations of this wagon but somewhat boring if you were not. I missed out on Model Trains International. I think we seem to forget sometimes a World without the internet where unless you saw it in a newsagent that actually stocked it, (and many did not) or someone told you about it you were completely unaware it existed. By the time I found out about it I just could not justify anymore magazines. I better stop reminiscing or I might start on about Triang Super 4 track actually seemingly having nearer to scale sleeper spacing then other track systems currently available. Time for some other reminiscing on the TV and dip into another episode of "Life on Mars" then think about the next things to do on my layout - just for the fun of it! Woody

Peco rolling stock is usually good running but it is worth having a look at the underside of the wagons and the wheels themselves for anything obvious. Are the pinpoint axles properly located in the chassis bearing? Try spinning the wheel set with your fingers and it should spin freely and for at least several seconds. Any stiffness you may feel through your fingers whilst trying to spin them is usually a sign that the axle is not properly seated. Usually pulling the chassis gently sideways gives room for the axle to locate properly. Look at the chassis itself to see if it has twisted and I'm effect has trapped the wheel set. If so gently pulling will usually move the plastic back to where it should be. Another issue with secondhand stock that you buy can be dirty wheels. I have had wheels where dirt has built up in one spot on a wheel which then in effect makes the wheel out of true. In n gauge and 009 with relatively small wheels it only needs a small deposit to make the wagon look as though it is running drunk. On a steel wheel the black deposit of dirt is usually easy to see. On a plastic wheel a little more difficult but your finger tips/nails can usually feel the unusual shape of a dirt deposit . Hope that helps? Woody

Hi Nile, Where do I start having now read through this topic? Somewhat stunned by the sheer quality, workmanship and attention to detail on this beautiful layout! Has there been any further progress?

Looking very impressive Ian! That looks a fair old run down the ski jump - just trying to get some perspective on sizes - how long is that straight? Gradient wise if there is an issue you could always use a banker or even convert to a rack system but I suspect German engineering and your pre-planning will see trains romping up the hill without problem!

Hello Chris, A very interesting track plan and scenic outline and you have obviously spent some time developing it and getting a lot of key features in a relatively small space. The only point I would raise, apologies if I have missed the explanation, but the two stub sidings to the top of the wye look fairly short - about 6 inches. Not sure if you just intended to turn locos on the wye or whether the sidings are planned to be used for rolling stock storage or turning full trains but the limited length of the sidings might be an issue. Other than that it should be a cracking layout when built. Hope this is of use? Woody

Thank you. That does bring back good memories and I still have the original magazines which I really need to bring out of their hibernation! At the time that magazine was so different from other railway magazines available with projects and layouts you felt that you could actually build yourself and so well written and illustrated. The Warren Branch was one I always wanted to build but never got round to it - maybe one day as I now have the USA stock that I could not afford back in the early 80s.

Hi, Edwardian your comments are very much appreciated and a big thank you to everyone who has 'liked' Strangely enough this layout has somewhat amazed me in the speed of progress. Normally my modelling achievements are measured in astrological terms such as a comet returning from its deep space journey! It is nice to make progress and this weekend saw some n the loading facilities for the quarry. What comes out of the quarry is still open to debate but whatever it is can theoretically be loaded onto the railway. In building the necessary equipment I just started with a few pieces of plasticard, some rod and strip and a few H beams. What came out at the end of a few evenings work would probably me at home in Tony Beets bone yard if you watch the Gold Rush TV series! At the real risk of upsetting anyone with any engineering knowledge or experience of loading or health and safety legislation plant this is what I produced. The theory is that the material is loaded into the auger which then puts it into the hoppers that are over the track. No doubt in real life the auger would be unsuitable and the hoppers collapse but then that is the beauty of railway modelling - you sometimes just have to put real life to one side! Given an airbrushing of Tamiya earth paint and then a thin coat of a Vallejo light blue the plant then got a treatment of suitable rusty weathering powders just to make sure it had that old and neglected look to it. A further dab of weathering powder in the various hoppers covers a multitude of sins with joints in the plasticard! This what it looks like on the layout. Still need to make some concrete blocks for the steel feet to rest on but I do like it! You may also spot that there are some point levers loosely in place which need some 'civils' to get them bedded into the scenery. If I knew what I was doing I would have put them in place when I laid the track and before ballasting. The train posed under the hopper is made up of an old Roco diesel that I added a DCC chip to some years ago and the tipplers are also Roco. I recall buying them from a model railway shop in Bala on the industrial estate which I believe was the former site of Bala station. Although a little hazy I seem to remember that the gentleman who ran the shop was either German or Swiss and he wore a white lab coat as he tended to the massive layout that was the major part of the shop. Someone once told me the shop was an excuse for the layout which sounds good to me! Not sure if anyone here recalls that shop? Just to end with two images from the other end and side of the layout. Many thanks for looking and hope you enjoy. Comments/thoughts/ideas/criticism are always, well almost always welcome! Woody

Errrr...No. Is it another trick question?

Hi, Longtime member, occasional commenter and now recently retired! Gives me the chance to do all that modelling that was in my mind! One of those modelling things on my mind was an 009 layout. I have dabbled over the years and built something similar in the early 90's to the 2 foot square layout that was a project in Scale Model Trains back in the 80's if anyone remembers that magazine and the project they had. I even went as far as fitting a DDC decoder into a Roco H0e 0-6-0 diesel back soon after Bachman launched their EZ Command controller back in the noughties and it worked much to my amazement! However, move on a few years and not a great deal has happened with my 009 modelling. There is an 00 gauge terminus layout which is fairly advanced, a basic n gauge UK layout, an even more basic USA one and some 0n30 in a box awaiting its turn! There is also my military and truck modelling! You would think I had enough on my plate with all those projects but I have had that itch to build something in 009 just for the fun of watching trains go round in a scenic setting. Started the baseboard back in May of 2020 and although in lock down I was still working so the project did not move that fast. However now with retirement there is more time although the 'Chore Jar' appears to be getting fuller as Mrs Woody finds further non model railway jobs that also need doing! Possibly at the risk of upsetting anyone here who is into prototypical modelling I thought I would post some pictures of what I have achieved so far - it is still a work in progress and is stage one in a two stage project with a further similar sized board to be added to double the size of the layout. You will see the two spurs ready to lead onto the second board. The track plan is a loose interpretation of one in the Peco plan book mainly because I liked the look of it! Size wise the board is 40 inches by 22 - and if you need the metric there is no doubt a handy app somewhere that will convert it! Intention is to run it DCC but with the ability to switch to DC if needed. First off is the 'drone' view which sets the scene and probably explains things better than my words do. Baldwin hauling a goods train emerging from under the bridge. The bridge, as shown in the Peco Plan book, is the Wills Occupation bridge kit. The strange thing was that despite the plan book showing it and even listing it I had to make my own abutments to get the clearance required for rolling stock. One of those phots where you suddenly realise that a locomotive really needs a crew! However, I guess the crew have stopped the train and are now having a break - that's my excuse anyway. Moving a bit further round the track passes the quarry which could be sand or chalk or perhaps something else that requires a different colour to be applied to the quarry face but that is yet to be decided. If anyone is interested there are more details on my blog at https://woodysmodelingdiary.blogspot.com/ and unless I am thrown out of the forum I will post some more photos later on. In the meantime I hope this is of interest! Woody

Yes! I obviously fell for the trick question! No! I did not realise it was a trick question! However on a much more positive note good to see the commencement of the next stage of the layout Ian. One of the big advantages of this 'set track' type of trackwork is that you can get an awful lot of track into a small space and it does look good! However with your plan to put the townscape over I can see how it will create the illusion of a much larger space. I am assuming that the tracks will have catenary? Moving onto the continuing adventures on the branch line, which are becoming legendary, I did actually have to go back through the story to remind my self as to how this all started! The knock on effects of a 'liberated' crate of beer are indeed major. Incarcerated loaders and drivers, the entire police force of the area deployed to deal with this crime, somewhat dubious interviews of witnesses, business supplies in the locality disrupted! However despite all these major repercussions the most important question that I see now is where is Blitz? Has he secretly deployed himself in the wagon now standing in the interchange siding in the hope that it will take him to the beach or has something more sinister occurred? Personally I think given the characters involved the best chance of this crime being solved are with Blitz. However I could be wrong. Do you think that Blitz can solve the crime? Yes or no?

Having paid careful attention to this matter and using the full might of my less than effective powers of deduction and taking account of the fact that the clock appears to have rotated anticlockwise by 90 degrees which is playing on my mind, I would say that its the commencement of a wooden bike to carry on the Halfords cycle carrier clearly shown in the picture as a major clue to the question asked! I rest my case M'lud!

Why do I have this ever increasing headache????? However, I am looking forward to the next extension which that 2 x1 or its metric equivalent looks as though it is destined for!

Progress made and I deduce that this work took no longer than 2hrs and 38 minutes to complete unless of course it was 14hrs and 38 minutes but I can't think that you would start work on this at 3 in the morning or finish at 5am! Or would you?

I really do like that! There is something memorising about being able to in effect 'get into the layout'. The quality of the camera seems good as well. Just out of interest Ian, have you tried doing a monochrome video, sometimes it can create a very different atmosphere to a scene.

Hello Ian, not sure if this is any interest lighting wise although I have probably misunderstood what you are after - https://www.microstru.com/Flourescents.html

Well there we have it with everything in place so 'Lights, camera, action!' I will now await the YouTube debut of this continuing crime story! Get down Blitz!

My head is whizzing after this latest episode! Plots, sub plots, plots within plots! More sleepless nights! I am beginning to think that this all may be a spin off of the German crime show SOKO Leipzig and Ian is actually creating a complete crime film set in his railway room/garage! All we need now is a ho scale film crew on site.

Hoping for a further update soon if only to get a good nights sleep as there are so many questions that remain unanswered! Has the coffee and game of cards ended in the goods office? Will the witness that Michael is interviewing bare all? Has Thomas managed to have a, as we now refer to it ' comfort break'? Will Blitz get to the beach or just the pound? Will the evidence disappear in a frenzied drinking spree in the absence of coffee? Will the crew waiting for their early finish revolt?

How about a crate of beer which I should have available once I finish this coffee and game of cards with the lads?

Have to agree with Izzy. The foamcore I used from Hobbycraft warped badly part way through a layout build. Did not want to scrap my work so i had to make up a wooden frame to replace the foamcore frame and then use clamps and strong glue to get it back flat? It worked but it is not ideal. The advice about laminating it may help resist any warping but personally I would not use it again without some additional support from a more substantial material. Hope that helps.

You can't leave us all in suspense like this Ian! I take it, as they use to say at the end of Batman (the original TV show complete with Kerpow Biff, Splat, etc!) and believing that Blitz will have a major part in the next episode as he appears to be the only one looking in the right direction , ' Same Blitz-time, same Blitz-channel next week!'

I will await with interest as to where the OHLE will reappear and with anticipation as to the fate of the crate and its contents! Illustrating the further strange manner in which my mind works once Tracy Island and the orbiting Thunderbird 5 have gone to sleep, the mention of 'ski jump' does make me wonder whether you actual meant ETE rather than TEE? ETE AKA Eddie The Eagle would no doubt relish the opportunity to try out the current ski jump and given his performance at Calgary and taking account of the alignment, slope and likely weather conditions within your railway room, may well, if he misses the buffer stop, make it as far as your freezer if its still in the room. Possibly drinking the contents of the crate might add to the level of performance. Who said railway modelling was boring and not mentally stimulating?

Its all coming together well. Pity about the OHL being made redundant but are we likely to see it emerge elsewhere as the line develops or will there be an alternative use such as an electrified fence protecting goods from being liberated by thirsty ho scale workers?

Almost as though you are reading my mind Ian! Exactly the image I had floating around in my head yesterday somewhere between Tracy Island and the orbiting Thunderbird 5! Anyone seen Brains? Unlikely as that is in my head! On a more serious note you were talking earlier of putting in a temporary loop at the bottom of the incline. Is that no longer a goer?

There is almost a sense of drama and impending doom as the train heads down the incline. For some strange reason visions and memories of Thunderbirds are going round my head - not much in there so plenty of room for most of Tracy Island and probably Thunderbird 5 orbiting it! .As an interim measure remove the clock and have Thunderbird 2 hovering with its suction grab at the ready in case of an uncontrolled runaway. FAB!!!