Kaolin2FS

Thanks Jeremy, they do now but once they're black they'll probably just blend into the background! Will post some more photos on here once they're finished. There are also some tiny handles yet to be fitted to the side which will test my patience... They'll be painted white though, so will be worth the effort, I think... As for the CDAs, all 3 manufacturers have done a reasonable job of the underframe on these, mainly because they're very similar to the HAA (the HEA kit uses the Peco chassis to keep manufacturing costs down which is a compromise, hence the detailing kit included). So the only detail I intend to add to the CDAs will be to the hopper covers and end equipment. More on these before long! Thanks Robbo! I'm not a fan of the buffers either but was going to live with them - I'll keep an eye on your blog and see if you come up with a better solution! Thanks Pete - moving at the end of this month so hopefully not an interruption for too long! And surely a little 2FS micro layout competition is a good thing...? Very carefully Rich, but that's probably the cause of the wobbles. I opened the axle cups out with a small (1mm I think) drill bit until I could just see the plastic on the outside of the axle boxes start to deform under the tip of the bit inside. I then used tweezers to press home the association top hat bearings, between which a 13.70mm association axle was fitted. No glue used. I tried to maintain exactly the same drill position for each axle cup, with the bit resting on the bottom of the axle box opposite. Graham

Thanks guys, but might be a little while before this one materialises now...! Thanks Rich... Now, that's given me an idea...

Naturally, after coming up with a great little layout plan, construction has been terminated as the landlady called to give us notice that she's selling up. As the new place will be only a temporary fix for a few months and space will be at a premium, I've decided to concentrate on building stock and flushing out the gloat box of kits and detailing items - whilst also kicking myself that I'd not followed Pete M's example a long time ago and built myself a 2FS micro layout! I'm still taking a short break from the CDAs so in the meantime I've been resurrecting a little rake of HEA domestic coal hoppers I built from TPM kits over 15 years ago but never got around to fitting the detailing parts to. Here's the rake with the excess underframe mouldings cut away, couplings removed, top hat bearings and 2mm wheelsets added, together with whitemetal hopper discharge doors and brass handbrakes and ladders now fitted to most wagons ready for painting. I've got a couple of pretty serious wobbles on two of the wagons and I've yet to investigate if it's due to poor alignment of the brass bearings in the enlarged holes in the axleboxes or if the wheelsets have been knocked out of 'true' during fitting! Time to get myself some more detailing packs at the York show...

Very nice indeed Jeremy. Those Farish mouldings are a big improvement on the old ones but the detail you're adding looks very worthwhile. I'm waiting for the new Farish 37/4 and 37/5 to come out before I increase my fleet size of St Blazey tractors, but in the meantime I've seen enough good lowered examples now to turn my hand to one of the older Poole models to get my eye in...

No, it was me. Been away for too long... Graham

After a prolonged absence forced by work and the French , modest progress on the Trevanion Dries project has been achieved. Depending, of course, on how you define 'progress'... Further research has revealed the original plan just isn't prototypical, but fortunately, as I'd not yet built it in 2mm, there was nothing to rip up... . So I set to work again with paper and pencil and a few plans later, with help from google satellite view, I'd re-created Goonbarrow Jn and exchange sidings! Of course you'd need a good few feet to recreate this, even in 2mm: After that I came back down to earth and as this is my first proper 2mm attempt, I scaled back the design to something far more achieveable in a realistic timescale. Thus Trevanion Dries has been re-born as a run-around loop and siding attached to a clay dries. Very simple in concept, the emphasis will be on slow moving clay trains with detailed wagons, running in front of a disused clay dries, with the entrance to a modern facility at the far left of the track plan. Here's a quick mock-up in N gauge with some cardboard and timber I had lying around: Must finish those CDAs... [edited to remove thumbnails now I've remembered how to correctly attach pictures again!!]

Great photos, I'm looking forward to seeing this again! I should be at the York show on Sunday or Monday afternoon - I'm sure I can persuade the other half to do some shopping in town - I'll stop by to say hello and have a butchers at the train turn table! Graham

May I, too, add my congratulations - not only for a very handsome-looking footbridge, but more importantly for joining the darkside! Graham

Jerry, Firstly, great to see TM in the flesh at Warley - it looked superb. Now kicking myself I didn't ask you about the off-scene turntable as Trevanion Dries (in its latest re-hash) will use something very similar, with a diameter of about 24" to feed a scenic board of 54" length. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to the Aylesbury Railex but in the meantime, any top tips, problems and solutions you came across in its construction that you'd care to share would be gratefully received! Graham

Thanks Robbo, the PAAs may end up being a bit of a challenge/scratch build job as the Farish model doesn't accurately reflect the side ribs or top ends of the wagon; the PRA should be much more straightforward as there's a cracking 3D body available (I think from Shapeways?). Still waiting for the Farish Polybulks, hopefully not long now... Graham

Proper job! Coming on nicely. Let me know when you come to weather it, I'm sure I've got some photos of inside the top of the bridge, in case I ever wanted to model something similar. Graham

Another great little kit from TPM, nicely executed, which reminds me - I really ought to get on with my rake of 12 HEAs which need TPM ladders and underframe detail. Never enough hours on my days off! Will be good to see how you get on with the Mathieson 3-links. Graham

I envy the space you have Jeremy... no room for 9-coach expresses in this household! Especially like the final shot... captures the feel of Par well, just a shame it's an EE Type 4 not a Type 3 on the CDAs! Graham Edit: I meant to ask before: do you have a track plan of the whole layout, and are you running this with DC or DCC?

Looking good. If you can crank these out in 2 hours apiece you'll be there in no time! Graham

Congratulations on the job - and good luck with the househunting! The layout's coming together well, I especially like the neat work on the operating panels and the turnout operating mechanism. Graham

Liking the mix of stock and the freight emphasis... keep us updated on progress on the turnouts when you get round to building those! Graham

That's good information thanks David, I was unaware of this source of rail Andy, I had planned to support the very tip of the nose although it's not obvious unless you blow up the image. However, also see below... I'll drink to that Jeremy... roll on Friday! Don and Jerry, thank you for the voice of experience. I'll now certainly put the sleepers back in, as suggested, as well as trialling the steel rail on some plain line first - making sure I have some straight NS on standby in case the air turns blue! Thank you all for the comments and suggestions. Graham

Thanks Nick; I wanted to try steel rail though and that's only available in coils to my knowledge. The Track Handbook is already on my shopping list for Warley later this month! Graham

Pathetic progress this week as work is getting in the way but a tame start has been made on the first two PCB turnouts, with sleepers in place in preparation for the first rails to be laid. As only the rails will be visible alongside the dries I've only laid every third sleeper to speed the process. This may yet prove to be a bad idea if the rails are not sufficiently supported, in which case I'll sneak in another one in each gap. When I got to this point and tried to straighten the coiled rail to lay on the sleepers, I belatedly realised there's bound to be a jig for this, at which point I had a quick rummage around the 2mm Association shop list and found one (shop ref 1-218 ). I may well invest in this very soon but in the meantime, here goes anyway: To lay the plain track I'm planning on clipping the first rail to a straight edge using paperclips to get a straight edge, then using triangular gauges to lay the other rail. With only 52 days to go until Christmas, I should have this - along with my previous attempt in easitrac - all complete, wired and operational by then!

Argos, welcome to the 2mm newbie blog club! I'm in a similar position, having made one easitrac point semi-successfully (it has a few tight spots I need to shake out) and just started work on a copper-clad crossover (which I will bury in 'concrete' once it's running smoothly). Looking forward to seeing how things progress. Were you able to identify the reason your easitrac point didn't work? I can also identify with the last 2 points, although I substitute triathlons for cross-country... ...and just to beat Pete to it, do post a track plan when you have one! Graham

Sloooowly...

Pete, on the contrary, it was your trials and errors that prompted me to try the polyfilla route! Thank you - I've seen Tom E's and it really does look the part. Thanks for the tip on Tony Simms' post too. I'd thought of adding a check rail but will try and get away without one; on the photos I've seen there are only a few where a check rail is obvious and I'm not sure if it would make my life easier or harder! Thanks Jeremy, I'll just give mine a going over with some sandpaper before painting. On the final version, I'll make sure I do this scenic work first, to avoid the uncharacteristic sight of a Cornish snowscene!

Just found this entry - very nice work! Do you have a cunning plan for keeping the rails clean, or have you found they don't need it? Graham

There's been plenty of debate on RMWeb over the best way to achieve the look of track inset into concrete at industrial facilities, so I thought I'd add my method used on the Trevanion Dries test-track. I've gone for the simplest solution possible and used a general household shrink and crack-resistant filler that was lying around after the last room redecoration. A few quick photos by way of description (trackwork at this stage is still N gauge): When applying the mix, the knife was used at a slight angle in order to leave a very slight 'U'-shape between the rails of each track and between each track. This means that when track cleaning is required, the rails stand slightly proud of the surrounding concrete. Once it had been left to dry for 2-3 hours, an old piece of rail was scraped along the inside of each of the running lines in order to remove the filler from where the flanges will run. The mixture shrunk very slightly as it settled and dried out and so it needs another quick skim (or sandpaper) over the top prior to painting/weathering to hide the slight bumpy effect and smooth everything out - it's still a bit rough and ready as you can see. I've yet to establish if this process will work with steel rail or if the filler applied next to the rail will start off the rusting process. I've read quite a lot on use of steel rail elsewhere on this site, and for layouts which will stay inside in non-humid conditions it seems the jury's still out. I want to use it for appearance so if anyone has got any more observations on use of steel rail, especially in relation to inset track, then please let me know, otherwise I'll post results here after I've had a trial! Graham

Great photos - what a comparison between shots 3 and 4, the oval buffers look the piece and the whole model takes on a life of its own just as soon as those couplings are removed. Proper job! Graham