Kaolin2FS

Very nice indeed! Have you found you need to add a little more weight to the vans or are they heavy enough as they are? Graham

Thanks Pete! Modelling time will be at a premium from now on I fear... Thanks Nick, I've just added a link above - it runs a lot more smoothly than I thought it might, helped by the addition of an extra couple of PB wipers on each of the centre axles of the 37 - it's only got 4 axle pick up out of the box. Agreed Jez, thanks - I'd love a train of 11 in total, not that there's room for them on this layout, but maybe the next one... room for 11 on yours though?! Graham C

Despite a new job, new house and a move to the opposite corner of England, progress has continued slowly but surely over the last year. Spurred on by a recent 2mm North East Area Group meeting, here are some recent photos showing scenic progress on Board 1: The layout is operational, in that I have a total of 2 wagons with DG couplings at each end which can be run-round in the loop and shunted by the 37 (still waiting to get my hands on one of the new class 37 releases from Farish with a more appropriate livery), with the DGs being operated by an under-the track magnet attached to a long splint of wood - this allows wagons to be uncoupled at almost any point on the scenic section of the track. Next to do is replace the cardboard mock-up with a properly constructed dries, construct a scenic break for the entrance into the fiddle yard and complete the ballasting before moving onto Board 2. Time is of the essence before a baby arrives in 7 weeks and counting down...!!! Here's a video clip showing a short train being dropped off at the Dries (it appears a little jerky due to frame compression; it's a lot smoother in reality): Graham [edited on 15 Mar 15 with video link]

Looking good Pete! But why test with a 47 when an EE Type 3 would be more appropriate, surely? The lighting really sets the mood - there will always be enough ambient light at exhibitions to show up some of the detail on the harbour wall that would otherwise be in the dark. On electrics - why not switch to DCC and have all tracks live all of the time? Graham

Double slip - brave man! Looking forward to more on this. Graham

Superb as ever - I completely agree with your comment about viewing behind-the-scenes! Graham

Agree with Jez - although more subtle weathering effects often look best, in this case I particularly like the more weather-beaten of the two. Graham

Oh yes... bury that track! What did you use to do it? DAS clay, household filler or other? Graham

Thanks guys! Always good for motivation to put up a quick pic or two. In my dreams! If it ends up half as good as Pete's I'll be happy...

Quick shot of progress so far with work well underway on embankment and a mock-up of the dries and slurry loading point in cardboard/paper. All now running moothly over the concrete and both sets of pointwork; the pointwork is operated by wire-in-tube with no difficulties just yet! The siding in the foreground will be ballasted before weathering with a covering of clay muck. Next for attention: board 2, with the disused linhay.

Very nice indeed, it all really blends in well - especially the shot of the beautifully weathered wagons on the quayside. Hear hear for the large logo 37s! Graham

Do it... The only thing I'd say is, next time I'll see if there's room for a small stay-alive as well as it is rather liable to come to a grinding halt with the tiniest of excuses! Sadly not able to make it to Ally Pally this year... Always a good show Ian, I did try that last time but due to 'shrinkage' I then needed to go back over with a second coat - this time I made it thicker which helped and I did use your method for the second 'pour' which worked well, thanks Well it appears to be working at present... see latest update!

Sorry I didn't get the chance to see this in the flesh Andy, the backscene does the rest of the layout justice. Graham

Lesson one: if you use steel instead of nickel silver rail, don't worry, you'll always be able to tell where the tracks are underneath wet concrete: Lesson two: If you don't smooth the top off whilst still wet, sand off the filler very, very carefully when in proximity of point blades... Or they go ping... On the last trial, I'd encountered shrinkage which necessitated a re-plaster so this time I didn't smooth the top off when wet. Nothing 10 minutes with some grade 120 paper didn't fix, making sure I had a vacuum close to hand! The filler was filed down so that the rails stood just proud, to make my life easier when cleaning... Lesson three: if you are going to introduce any substance near to the rails that might impede electrical conductivity, be fastidious with cleaning the rails afterwards. I used a thin file (50 thou I think) run along the inside of the rails to clear out any remaining filler, followed by a soft brush and a vacuum to remove any small particles which might find their way between rail and wheel. I also took the opportunity to clean locomotive wheelsets whilst I was at it. At this point I discovered that my 37 is designed to only pick up from 4/6 axles... and as the pointwork was still not totally flat (Lesson four: don't use coiled rail for building pointwork - I know you've all told me this already ) this was causing juddering and stopping at low speeds. Another 10 minutes with a finer grade sandpaper to level out the top of the rails and 20 minutes with a soldering iron and two soldered pieces of scrap brass, and the 37 was picking up from all axles, noticeably improving performance. After surveying the initial results, the concrete gang moved in once more to enlarge the initial area and now 3/4 tracks on the western board are 'set'. The departure siding I will ballast and then weather with a healthy dusting of spilt china clay. This is the state of play so far: Now it's time for some scenic work and a backscene of some sort - plenty of inspiration on this front from the Nottingham show. And what a good show it was! Also good to meet the likes of Bryn, Richard, Laurie, Gareth and Andy and I know there were a few more I didn't get the chance to say hello to. Very envious of Laurie's pointwork for Yeovil - now that's something to aspire to - no pouring concrete over that lot! Graham

Certainly looks robust enough! Might be a good idea at this stage to cut some holes in the cross-members to make wiring runs easier before you start putting legs on, after which they'll be more difficult to handle. Graham

Here goes nothing - it is a test layout, after all! Before and after shots of the P-Way following a visit from the concrete pouring gang: Before... After... Once dry, the filler will be sanded until the rails are slightly proud of the surrounding concrete (I sanded the tops of the rails level beforehand) and then the flange recess on the inside of the rails gently scraped clear. Clearly, I've left the pointwork for the next batch of concrete after I've see how the rest of the job has turned out! On the rolling stock side, I've now got the 37, 150 and 153 all happily converted and running over the layout without issue, so I've had a go at converting my old Farish 08 to 2FS and DCC. This is a stopgap until I've got a new Bachman 08 bodyshell and have purchased the parts for and built a 2FS chassis - some way off yet. I purchased a TCS Z2 decoder which nicely fits inside one half of the cab, although the running is a little jerky still which I think is probably due to my dodgy soldering rather than any CV values (the re-profiled wheels and track are spotless) although any other ideas gratefully received! Decoder added Fitting neatly inside the cab And afterwards, with re-profiled 2FS wheels added More on how that concrete turned out later in the week! Graham

Curved corner makes a big difference - looking even better! Graham

Superb Rich - looking forward to both the magazine article and seeing more of those couplings! Graham

Thanks gents; Jez, I'm currently working on a batch of CDAs, I'll post some progress shortly; Pete, yes that's a good idea with the curves and I'll be starting the concrete just as soon as I'm happy with the crossover. I'll use the standard mix of polyfilla as it seemed to work last time (although it needs a couple of 'pours' due to slight shrinkage prior to sanding smooth). More to follow!

After much moving house, a little wagon building, some minor procrastinating and a great deal of trackplan re-working, Trevanion Dries has re-surfaced, at last in a more permanent guise. The new siding arrangement, although not maximising the amount of 'visible' trackwork, does increase the operational possibilities by some margin over the last plan. The two boards measure 100 x 30cm each and the trackwork is raised 5.5cm above the floor to allow for an embankment. In a flat without a proper spare room, this allows the boards to be slid under furniture when not in use by detaching the backscene. Most of the trackwork is complete and wired, with just the turnout to the departure siding and the siding itself to finish. As this project is a testbed for new skills and techniques, turnout construction is a mixture of 3 methods. The turnout at the St. Austell end is Easitrac, the departure siding is PCB built using a jig, and the crossover is PCB built on top of paper template using gauges (very early stages covered in an earlier blog). All will be powered by simple sliding switches connected to wire-in-tube, simultaneously changing frog polarity. Simple schematic (NB the run-round loop will accommodate up to 6 CDAs. Longer trains can be run round prior to shunting by using the road through the slurry loading terminal): Plan view of work on 'scenic' side (viewing area 110cm wide): Fiddle yard at 'works' end, which can align simultaneously with all 3 roads leading into the works. Tracks are splayed to the left of the photo to allow for fingers in between rolling stock: Turntable at 'St Austell' end (still in progress with 4 more roads to add), inspired by Jerry Clifford's 'Tucking Mill': Lastly, a view from eye level. Not especially neat or tidy! The thin MDF backscene is a temporary measure: Next stage is completion of the trackwork, connection of the point blades to the sliding switches, painting of the track, and setting the 'concrete' by the loading area after thorough testing. I've also been reading up on the Association's 08 replacement chassis which is looking like a very tempting project...

David - great suggestion thanks, I've just swapped them over and there's now a 1-2mm gap which is invisible from most angles except directly perpendicular to the unit. I also need to tone down the snowploughs on the 153 to make them less conspicuous! Graham

Didn't you bring this to the Oxford Expo a couple of years back? Either way, looks amazing! Graham

Whilst I'm working on my wagon fleet, I had the wheels on my 2 DMUs sent away for turning and gauging to 2FS standards. Now they're back, here's a visual comparison of the Dapol 153 and the Farish 150, both in Regional Railways livery. They both look great and run superbly (although the Dapol model does have far better slow speed control than the Farish), both before and after conversion to DCC. The blues used for the main body side colour and the lighter blue stripe are slightly different, not enough to be an issue for each model in itself but enough to be noticeable if viewed closely side by side. The real difference is the yellow on the end of the units with the 153 being a far brighter yellow than the more orangey 150. As I don't intend to run them together it's a moot point for me but may be of interest for other modellers. The 150 is coupled using the shortest rapido couplers supplied with the model, which makes the carriage connectors butt up against each other on straight track - as this does not have a close coupling mechanism which opens out on curves (unlike the 153), a more generous coupling shank length would have to be chosen if a layout is anything except a straight end-to-end affair with the resultant compromise in appearance on straight track. The trouble now is, they look so good I'm just going to have to incorporate a passenger line into the china clay works branch plan! Graham

Great venue as well, interesting being on so many different levels, with good natural light!

That looks spot on Pete. IMO poor ballasting can often detract from an otherwise really good layout - as it's tedious, as you say, and hence often rushed - but no such worries here! Makes such an difference to the overall visual impact too. Graham