MarshLane

Evening all, Well I'm progressing slowly with Arksey, although little to show in pictures. All of the power feeds are now in on Board 1 - I've also had to amend the sleepers at the board end, as I decided they were a little too delicate, so have replaced with a copper clad sleeper and soldered the track to it - the result is I now need to go back and glue the chairs back into place so it looks right! Im waiting on some more rail coming to finish the trackwork on Board 2, as I ran out - so hopefully there may be some pictures this weekend! Also had a further read through the instructions for my NER Electric Loco, so am building the courage to start on that brass kit! A couple of other projects are meandering along in the background too - more annon! I mentioned on my Marsh Lane thread that I'd been in London on the day of the Westminster terrorist attack, thankfully no where near it, but in the absence of any model photographs, I though I'd post a couple from my journey down and of King's Cross. I do love railway architecture, just a shame that the modern architecture doesn't live up to the standards and attractiveness of the older! So anyway, we'll start with a couple of views of Peterborough LIP - taken out of a good old Mark 3 coach. Im dreading the rapidly approaching days of these new plastic boxes on wheels when there are no trains that you can stick ones head out of the window on the approach to a station! Always felt Peterborough would be an interesting little loco depot to do in model form. Then we're onto the wonder of King's Cross. Unfortunately my business meeting prevented me getting any further railway wise, but did manage to have 20 minutes walk around with various photographs of station, architecture and rolling stock. So as to not bore everyone, I've kept this short selection pretty much to rolling stock! Hope you enjoy and it provides inspiration. All taken on my pocket Nikon 1 that I have for these occasions when I don't want the big DSLR with me! Hope you've enjoyed the update, back to modelling next! Rich

Very nice Steve.

Alan, That looks superb - very impressed, and a wonderful documentation of the build. Well done Rich

Having talked to a colleague in the industry about this project yesterday, my understanding is that the kit is being fitted within/under the DVT - which will then be used as part of the normal 68/Mk3 sets. During braking, energy is stored onboard, which is then used to enhance acceleration from station/signal stops etc. Its not intended to replace the loco, nor is it intended to be standalone power for a train - while improvements in technology *may* mean it gets to those stages in the future. At present, the aim is to get back to line speed quicker, with cleaner emissions as the 68 isn't working as hard, which also saves fuel. Also there is the possibility, depending on how good it works, that station departures could mean that the initial movement comes from the DVT, with the diesel loco only starting to notch up when out of the immediate station area, reducing fumes and improving air quality - although I think that is aspirational depending on the trial. There's a lot of background reference from JCB in this apparently. Rich

Hi Jon, It was one of those that was always on the 'Oh good god thats way too complicated for me' list. Until I decided to try it during the latter half of last year - and thanks to the kind comments from several on here, I'm really happy with where I've got to, and to get there after just the fourth turnout, I'm delighted! Given what you achieve with your signals, wooden or copper clad trackwork won't pose you any problems at all! Rich

Cheers Andy, Must say I'm really pleased with this one, the best looking one of the four I've built since I started with handbuilt track late last year. Symmetry looks good, the 'vee' came together very cleanly and wagons running over it are as smooth as as silk! A few little silly mistakes made, like putting chairs on when they should have been left off and added later, but nothing major. Eager to get on with ballasting and getting some scenery on it! One of the point blades for the other board has also been done, so hopefully that won't take much pulling together next week! Rich

Evening all, Well a little bit of progress today. Lovely sunny afternoon, with a decent temperature for once, so managed to get one of the boards set up in the back garden, the point is now all finished (bar for the tie bar) and 60% of the power feeds are now in an soldered too. Im putting a minimum of two power feeds to each section of rail, and each feed is doubled up - i.e. two separate wires on each rail - the aim being that should any wires come loose in the future it shouldn't affect the running of the layout. Once I've completed the power feeds and sorted the tie-bar out, then its onto the trackwork of the other board. I've decided that I'm going to get that trackwork sorted out and powered, then deal with colouring the rail and sleepers all in one go. Rich

Off thread... I think somebody needs to talk to Sir Humphrey about setting up a inter-departmental committee to establish the viablity into these airborne unicorns and seeking, should there be a precedent for such things, when taking all views into account, and establishing, in the fullness of time, any inter-relations between the said departments, whether such viability may be viable. After all, when taking into account the meteorological and hyperlogical, not to mention psychological, constraints with regard cost verses benefits of these things, it is generally, within the perpendicular of the role of Her Majesty's Government of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, benficial, if not courageous to take into account the viability of such scenarios. And of course that only applies to the biscuits! Now back on topic... have you made any progress? I'm assuming your local, but I've quite a few pictures from a couple of years back of the area your looking at New Holland/Barton you need any others. sorry for going off topic, I couldn't resist! Rich

Hi Dave, Yes that is odd - did you get to the bottom of what was causing the sound change? It is just the sound being bounced back, or it something electronic?? Love the various 47 shots too. Rich

Hi Adrian, Very nice - just goes to show you don't need huge amounts of space to create something special. Looks great, hope mine reaches the same level of skill! Rich

That looks like a Network Rail engineers possession Andy!!! Rich

Thanks to Simon for the response and comments much appreciated. As I'm typing this from a comfortable train on the East Coast Main Line heading home from London (thankfully not having been anywhere near Westminster) it seems apt to deviate from modelling and pause for a few moments to give thought for those who are not going home after today's atrocities. To those who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and those who were protecting others, my thoughts (and I'm sure those of all reading this) are with them this evening. A day that will go down in history, for all the wrong reasons.

Hi Richard Thanks for your prompt reply. Given everything I've got going on at the moment, as there will be another run at some point I'll hold on for a bit. Do want one at some point tho! Cheers Rich

I know I asked earlier and nobody commented, but if anyone has any experience of brass/aluminium milling ... or producing lost wax castings - could you drop me a PM, or pop a reply on here please? Just looking for some advice/background info. Thanks all! No progress with the layout or locos at the moment, due to work and family life Rich.

Hi Richard, This may be an 'off the wall' query that you say something along the lines of 'oh god don't mention it!' but are there any plans for a re-run of Martin's Broad Gauge kits - I can see 'Rover' is mentioned on the website, but not with any info or details and having had a quick look through this thread it appears not to have been mentioned at all? If so, is likely to be a 'one-off' run or available occasionally? It is a distant ambition - distant being the word at the moment - but one that I've always fancied as a display model for the cabinet ... course once its built it will be too nice to just display! Rich

Hi Steve, Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you'd stripped the boards back! Whats brought about the change of heart? Still following with progress, there really is something about small china clay layouts - different length and OO gauge but Pengwynn Crossing was always one of my favourites as a kid - not sure what it is about china clay and Cornwall, but it definitely has something. Rich

Totally recommend Jon's work - he's doing the ground signals for Arksey and his work is just stunning! Rich

Very nice Andy - you have a PM It also strikes me that its a very well lit room, which will always help things. Rich

Hi Andy, Oops! Apologies, I really didn't mean to confuse you! But I've found part of the problem. Your old Fuji went up to f13.5, but the new Canon lens only goes up to f6.6 (see this link from the specs on the Canon website) so the pictures are never going to have the depth of field that you had with the Fuji. Its interesting tho, looking the shot approaching the platform, and the other passing the signal box they are taken F4.5/F5, which is probably the best your going to achieve with that camera, purely because of the limitations of the lens. Given that your maximum possible F stop is half what your use to, I personally don't think you'll achieve the same quality of pictures, purely because the lens cannot let the amount of light in. Sorry. Rich

Very nice Jeff Superb layout. Will look even more wonderful when that fresh ballast is weathered! Rich

Love the lighting on those Class 24 pics Dave, very original. Im never ceased to be amazed at the standard of your modelling - and that its pure OO ... to me (I'm not a critic or a expert!) it is far more finescale than normal OO, and I always look forward to the next installment! Also I shall be interested to hear how your sound experiments with the 47s work out, although I'm 7mm in practice, its always interesting to hear (no pun intended!) the different experiences and how people mount/install the speakers. Rich

Evening mate, That really does look superb - I must admit I was concerned you'd got the whole concept of context wrong .. I mean a loading shed smaller than the DeLongi coffee maker behind hehe But once on the layout, those reservations disappeared! I'd agree totally with Andy Y - definitely master modeller status, and looking forward to seeing the detailing you put on it. Hope your really proud of it - you should be. Well my ballpoint was smoking after scribbling that lot! Thanks for taking the time with that tho - interesting, I've played with foam board and like RobD2 said not been happy as its warped - although that was with paint rather than glue, but the 5mm stuff I have is from a company called Westfoam off eBay, who if I remember right are an arts and craft supplier. Wondering if there is better foam board out there than what I have got. But its interesting you do a few things differently (and I think better) than I did them last time, and I like the idea of th 5mm oversize to allow the windows to go in. Thats a good tip for any building work. Cheers mate - much food for thought. Rich

Feel free to shout anytime mate if I can help Love photography and can talk about it till the cows come home ... well at until the bar closes anyway!! Andy, you could be right, but I think the picture quality is all down to the F stop setting. The camera that you've got is aimed at the point and shoot market, where as really I would alway suggest that anyone doing model railway photography goes for one that at least has a A and S setting, usually those will have a Manual (M) setting as well which gives you complete control. I don't want to say that I think you might be disappointed with it, because obviously if your happy then thats fine, but ideally you do need to be able to change the F-Stop (A) setting yourself. I don't want to hijack anything, but as an example this 08 was taken on f1.8: where as this view, I know its a slightly different angle, was taken on F9. The depth of view in the latter one - the point where it starts to loose focus is far further back, because the lens is open wider. I think thats the feature your missing at the moment. Hope I'm not talking out of turn! Out of the three settings I've talked about Shutter, Aperture and ISO, for model railway photography, Aperture is the most critical, followed by ISO, then Shutter - assuming the train is stopped! If the train is moving then the latter two swap round! EDIT: I forgot to mention - you talk about the picture quality Andy - bear in mind that 70% of what you see is down to the quality of lens and the lens settings, the remaining 30% is the sensor. Im simplifying things a lot here, but in essence there are only two things you'll really see with the 20MP sensor over the 7.1MP, that is a larger file size, and far better definition in the areas that are in focus. For what we are doing, taking snaps and putting them on the web, the latter might not be too noticeable unless you crop images in and really look at them with a fine eye at 80-100% magnification. If they were going for publication in a magazine then the difference would definitely be noticed! Hope I've not confused you Rich

Hi Michael, How are the brake blogs and brake rigging done on that NZ diesel - are they white metal or lost wax castings? Also, sorry if this is being cheeky - not looking to get secrets out of your at all! - but how were the vents in the bodyside bonnet doors created? Are they somehow moulded into the brass sheet when its etched? Rich

Chris, Quick question, how did you get the rivet detail to show through on the plastikard?? Is this gently tapping a blunt needle from the other side? Rich