fulton

Have been operating today, with working gates for the first time. The tank car secure storage compound for off spot cars to Triest Irrigation.

Have had the layout apart, tided up the baseboard joints and edges, sorted the linkages to the pairs of gates and wired up the street lights. Have used BLOCKSIGNALLING servos for the gates powered by their 12v supply unit feed from the dcc. Also fitted the recently introduced Train-Tech RL1 relay unit to turn the lights on and off, and to turn the servo units on and off. This morning re erected the layout, but this time the other way round with the viewing side against the wall so that I can concentrate on how things look from the operating side.

Hi A photo of my garage inside, was new twenty years ago fitted ceiling with insulation, sealed half brick walls outside with silicon sealant, painted inside with sandtex, added draught excluder to door, painted floor with floor paint, have two small tubular heaters, which are not often on. Does not feel at all damp and no dust, only a problem with spiders!

From the other end.

Back in the UK now, an overview photo for me to get back into the project, have some half finished timber loads on the work bench, the layout has been in one piece now for sometime now, needs to be taken apart so I can tidy up the base board joints, sort the servo linkages to the gates and wire in the lights, the days of working under a layout have gone what with knees and varifocals!

Have ordered direct from Microscale twice recently, good service, one came direct, no extra cost, one I had to pay VAT and handling, just to note sometime ago I ordered HO road signs which were more like O scale the N scale IMHO were just right for HO. So I have an "O scale" sheet of road signs available to post foc to anyone who wants them.

Collected from the Post Office today, as tax to pay, two ExactRail centrebeam flat cars, this completes my freight car roster, very nice models, gave a quick light weathering spray, painted the wheel sets, fitted Kadee #5 couplings, came with #58s which work just as well but I prefer to keep everything the same. Have been making up some removable timber loads so that the cars arrive loaded, then leave empty, using the Scale Model Scenery 00 packs, I like that they are solid and they seem to stay in place, chunky enough to get hold of, a set four packs long and two high will fit all my flat car, bulkhead flats and centrebeam flats.

A scene on my HO layout, Plant City, Florida.

Freight cars all now updated with reflector strips, added Exact Rail bulkhead flats very detailed models a bit fragile, need very careful handling, replaced the couplings with No 5s, two of there centre beams on order.

Lights came with LEDs which I will resist down so as to be not too bright. Also working on freight cars, adding graffiti, was a bit torn about adding this but it is a feature of the current scene, looking at videos it is universal.

Been back in the UK for a few weeks, away again next week, busy on utility poles, 18 on the layout 16 different designs! have used brass tube for strength, beads for insulators, transformers from Shapeways and drop breakers from Showcase Minitures, brass wire to give a representation of cables, street light heads from Viessmann.

Hi Visited the shop yesterday, nice shop, not huge but good range, n and ho, friendly English speaking staff, bought two Athearn mechanical reefers for my potato spur layout. Had planned to drive but Google suggested the Sbahn S28, from our local station Dusseldorf Flingern, nice trip over the Rhein then Neuss after which it became a rural single track branch line, with an every 20 minute service! we left the train at Kaarster Bahnhof, one stop before the terminus at Kaarster See. The shop was a short walk away. Have also visited Menzels Lokschuppen in Dusseldorf centre, a large shop, little American, extensive range of ho vehicles. Both shops worth a visit.

Thank you, not a lot of progress at the moment as I am in Dusseldorf Germany, not sure when I will be back in the UK, as I need to be here at short notice and fear France will close its borders again, do not really want to fly direct.

I am in Dusseldorf for a while, Kaarst is a short drive away, any experiances of this shop, looks good. Menzels Lokschuppen has some American when I last visited, that's only a walk away.

When GP 35 4420 was mentioned, it seemed familiar and yes I have the KATO model, one of my first US locos bought second hand at the Folkestone exhibition, some twenty years ago. Very nice model, I fitted DCC but the loco went out of favour on my, now gone, garage layout as there was NO play in the bogies to allow for change of gradient. Plant City is flat so I will look to see about fitting sound and giving the model new life, even if it has the earlier livery.

What a great video. The shoving platform was not the one I was expecting to see, another modelling project.

There is room in the "head shunt" for a loco plus 4 cars, in my playing trains the layout seems to work well with 4-5 cars spotted at the industries, the train arrives with 4-5 cars plus shoving platform, switches then departs with 4-5 cars pushing the train back. My staging has room for three trains, I find my layouts work better, more fluid, with less rather than more cars.

Thank you, attached dated 1/2016, switching the spur with shoving platform on main, which class of loco is this?

Must be an on going problem as they have no parking signs as well as cones.

Cook Construction plant yard.

Scenery has been progressing, using the Green Scenes static applicator and various 1mm, 4mm, and 6mm fibres from Green Scene, Peco and Nock. Palm trees from Reality in Scale, other trees and bushes saved from my previous layout. Realized I am short of correct freight cars, particularly mechanical reefers and centre beams. Next layout items are utility poles some 18 of them, plan to use brass tube as plastic one always seem to get broken or bow.

I've been using some made for military modellers 1/72 scale, I think they look fine in HO or OO, from Hannants by Hauler HLH72026 £5.20 for 38 pairs various types.

Boards back together now and running trains, want to test everything before adding scenery, have used Blocksignalling servos to open and shut the three pairs of gates, a learning curve for me, they work but need the linkages sorted, when the boards are apart again, have learnt a lot.

Just finished the chain link fencing, around 18' of it, I used the Alkem Scale Models etched stainless steel, with 0.8 mm brass posts soldered on, using Carrs brown label flux this worked very well. have fitted Perspex protection 2" high, I do not really like this but I just know the fencing at the edge WILL get damaged by me most probably!

Back to my very first question as to the purpose of the fenced in compound, I've just done what I should have done at first, checked the Google Earth time line, which shows, up to 2014 Triest Irrigation was regularly full of tank cars five number with another five tank cars in the compound with the gates shut, they seem to have stopped receiving tank cars after that year. Also showed up Incyro Services building was built in 2008. So my model will be dated between 2008 and 2014. Photo of the entrance to the compound.