Black5

A nice bit of D I Y with a great end result. Certainly no bodge!

That`s a very nice piece of work.

Hi Ian, I don`t know if you`ve seen this picture before. It`s on the cover of Loco Profiles No 37----L M S Pacifics. The picture is dated 3-6-1962. The reason for posting it was it shows a different down pipe arrangement from the tank compared to the picture on page 18 in the Rod Steele book and that was taken in July `62. Whether this fits into your modelling timescale or not i don`t know and if you have already seen the picture my apologies. Took a look at your proposed new layout on your blog. That`s some project. Enough to keep you occupied for a while! Cheers just now, Jim.[attachment=757557:IMG_1864s.jpg

Apologies for deviating from the subject but looking at The Signal Engineers blog and in particular his blog heading Ansells, The Mild (referring to the beer ) brought back a lot of memories. Down here in Fleet in Hampshire back in the sixties our local pub used to sell Ansells King Pin, a superb brew. Many an evening was spent there with a good mate and seeing the picture jogged the memory. Happy days Back to the railways. Cheers just now. Jim.

Morning all, Due to a lot of family commitments ( and me being a slow builder), progress has not been as quick as i would have liked so far this year. I've made a start on a water tower and have looked into scratch building some half relief buildings using the shell of the buildings made from the backing board on the clip on type picture frames from The Range shop. The board is 2mm thick MDF so should be a good surface for applying the embossed plasticard too. I looked for Daler board but no one seems to keep it in my area. Once the water tower is finished it'll be water columns next ( maybe another attempt at scratch building). Cheers just now, Jim.

Have to agree with trainfan4472 about your conversion production rate. ( and you're talking about another layout ). Sounds like there's more conversions on the horizon!! Will it be followed by blue ones after the green? Cheers, Jim.

Hi Iain, just been looking at your latest pictures of the water tank. It really is a great piece of work. I have to agree with 1B Camden, it`s a pity all that work will disappear beneath a coat of paint but it has to be done. I think i would take a good set of pictures though when it`s finished and still bare metal. I noticed in an earlier message you mentioned Alton Models. The last of the shops to hold a good stock for the modeller in my area, (I live in Fleet ), We used to have another,Cove Models, but sadly that went a few years ago unfortunately. Cheers, Jim.

Your loco improvement rate is pretty impressive. I wish my layout construction was as good. How many does the fleet consist of now? As always, a good read from the Foster Street Gazette! Cheers, Jim.

I agree with Jock67B Andy, a great description of what was a good show from what you said. Unfortunately Stafford would be a bit of a treck from Hampshire so not one i could visit easily. At a recent local show i looked at one large layout and it made me wonder if the general visitor ( whose never got into building a layout ) realises how much money there is running around on the tracks in front of them. The layout i looked at had at least seven tracks in the fiddle yard, all full, and i know it was probably a combined effort to stock it but i bet people would get a shock if it was totalled up. I agree with you about 82G, a stunning layout. I believe they were thinking of extending it at one time but i don`t know if that happened. Thanks for your write up and pictures. Cheers, Jim.

I agree with farren Iain. I`m sure a lot of us watch what you`re up to with great interest and envy at your modelling ability and eye for detail. Way back at the start, i think you said this was your first serious attempt at a layout, some first attempt! Thanks for the pictures and the info. Cheers, Jim.

Nice work Paul, always good to try and improve loco details. Makes them a much more interesting model, though on N gauge some of it must test the eyesight!! I`m beginning to think you`ve aquired most of the L M S loco stock there is out there, you`ve got so many. ( Never a bad thing! ). As always, an interesting blog Best wishes , Jim..

Hi Iain, Thanks for your reply. I didn`t think there would be a standard height as all yards would be different but i just wondered. I actually upped the length of the legs on my cardboard mock up to give a height of 32 ft which certainly looks much better. Braithwaite Panels arrived this morning ( amazingly quick service from them ) so tank building will start soon,albeit slightly narrower due to space. Thanks for your help All the best, Jim.

Hi, welcome back to the world of model railways You will most certainly see the difference from 20yrs ago especially on the dcc side of things. As to which gauge to model is i`m afraid down to you and what you would like from the hobby. As we get older fingers are less nimble and eye sight isn`t what it was so very small things become a problem so some things will depend on your particular interest and skills. As you`ve already seen Foster Street in N gauge take a look at Camden in 92220`s blog to see what can be achieved going next gauge up, then take a look at some of the O Gauge layouts, some really great ones to learn from. At the end of the day it`s your choice but enjoy the challenge. Best wishes, Jim.

Hi Iain, With reference to your water tower construction, i wonder if you would mind answering a couple of queries. Was there a standard height at all for the base of the tank from the ground? Iv`e made a cardboard mock up at 25 ft scale height and it looked a bit low, so hence the question. The other thing was the size of the brass pieces you`ve used for the support structure? Hope you don`t mind me asking. Best wishes, Jim.

Three really nice locos. Jim.

Hi Iain, As usual,neat work on the coal tower and water tower support framework. I have to say, i like seeing things their state of construction be it plasticard or brass. It shows the amount of work put in before the paint hides it, especially any brass work where all the soldering is on view and you can see the effort required to reach the desired result. Someone said to me once at an exhibition whilst looking at an O gauge Bullied Pacific beautifully made in brass, once painted you could easily think it had been made of anything but brass as all the work gets covered by the paint. Always enjoy following your postings, Cheers Jim.

Hi Ian, Many thanks for your reply. I think i`ll stick with the Select for now as it does do the basics, ( moving the loco one way or the other ). What i will do though after reading your reply is try another decoder. I have a Bachman Jubilee which, even on a minimum control setting, takes off like a greyhound out of its starting trap! so i think that`s where i`ll start. If a loco (dcc) doesn`t move when asked to ( all things being clean ) is there a way of checking the decoder to find out if it`s blown ( other than putting the suspect decoder in a loco you know works? Thanks once again, Jim.)

Hi Ian, Thanks for the reviews you`ve recently written up, most helpful, particularly the Hornby Select. This came to me as a gift so i have no real understanding of all the terminology yet so i`m reading as much as i can. Regarding the Select, if a loco acceleration control was set at 99 and duly moved off slowly, what difference would you get in performance by changing controller or decoder to have CV adjustments available? Are CV adjustments better suited to layouts with a longer run rather than an end to end like mine? At present i just turn the control knob to the speed i think is ok but reading things suggest i could be missing out on better operations. If changing things didn`t make that much difference, bearing in mind it`s only a slow running layout, would it be worth looking into? Hope the questions aren`t too daft but i`m a bog standard modeller picking things up as i go along. Many thanks, Jim,

Thanks for that Focalplane. i`ve been reading some of the blogs on the dcc section and have also found some old cuttings from past BRM magazines relating to my question so at some point i`ll have go. Many Thanks, Jim.

Afternoon all, While waiting for a ballasting session to dry properly i`ve been looking at converting a Bachman loco (The Ranger ) to DCC..As this has quite a heav chassis i`m wondering on which decoder to try and fit. At the moment i`ve used Hornbys R8249 decoders in most of my other locos but i`m not sure, with my limited dcc knowledge, whether this would be suitable. My layout is a simple end to end mpd favouring good slow running so there is not going to be any heavy loads being pulled. I also use the basic Select controller which i know is not everyones choice but it was passed on to me as a gift and got me started in DCC. Any suggestions as to improving decoder choice or controller would be most helpful. Many thanks. Jim.

Thanks for your interest. I agree with you about getting that track level. With the experience gained up to now i would have done things a little differently. With my layout in an integral garage it`s open to changes in temperature etc every time the door is opened. As you say, I need a lot more " rubbish " around but at the moment buildings are the priority. I did have plasticard point levers but as usual they got broken over time. Iv`e now got cast ones but they wont be put on yet. ( Track cleaning is where they get caught ) Next to build is a water tower and then to make or find suitable water columns. I look forward to seeing your progress. Jim.

Hi all, Somewhat slow progress through this year. The engine shed is virtually complete, just a couple of ladders to make ( from brass rod ) up the outsides of the wall and a bit more weathering. Earlier on in the year i added some internal detail to the shed and also fitted lights. The four corner platforms were also made using plasticard for the platforms and brass rod for the handrails. Everything plugs into it`s position so can be stored easily to prevent any accidents when not in use The shed floor has been filled in now to complete the internal pits with the wooden extensions beyond the concrete bases for the water columns. The black electrical wire on the roof is my representation of a hosepipe, ( for cleaning the top lights!) Iv`e also spent time building the wall down the back edge of the layout ( all 17ft of it ) which will have half relieve buildings between that and the back scene. Iv`e also built another aquaduct (modellers license ) which is purely to give me some sort of scenic break at that end. I v`e attached ( hopefully ) some pictures. All the best for the New Year. Jim.

Hi D49, Welcome to the world of layout building. That`s a nice looking plan to start out on. As a first time builder myself i can say it will be fun but now and again frustrating. It`s surprising how quickly some skills improve while others take longer ( my problem was more an understanding of the electrical side of things at the start ). If you can scratch build, that is even more rewarding but that depends on available modelling time. Enjoy the challenge, Best wishes ,Jim.

Hi Iain, As usual from you, great model structures and great pictures. Your coal tower is certainly a big beast ( as most of them were ) and is a lot different in shape to mine. I built mine from a plan i found on the web and is similar to the one made by Bachman so i think is more a standard type around the thirties. This is why my layout is only loosely based on Camden rather than anything else. Too many things iv`e had to change due to available space Nice to see the motive power on site, gives a great picture of what`s ahead when you progress further. Hope 2016 is a good year for you in all your construction, modelling or the real thing. All the best. Jim.

When building my points i bend the blade rail to the required curve, file one end to fit against the running rail and solder the rail at the other end to two or three sleepers from the isolation gap to the frog so the curve is maintained and a certain amount of springing occurs. At the blade end i used the idea shown in the Right Track dvd on tracklaying, that being a piece of nickel silver wire bent at right angles, soldered to the inside of the blade, the other leg of the bend fitted in an appropriate sized hole in the tie bar. Repeat for the other rail. My own means of switching points is small brass rod inside brass tube running from the edge of the baseboard in a straight line to the point (in my case underneath the baseboard. With hindsight, i would do the same again but on top of the baseboard, between the sleepers and covered with ballast ) Inexperience at the time didn`t lead me down that path. Obviously, after reading all this, buying a point to suit and save time would be much quicker but i just think designing and building your own points to suit your own track layout is very satisfying. My problem was the electrical side of things but after gradually working that out the points have worked well for the last few years. In total i have 22 turnouts and 2 diamond crossings in an m p d layout. I hope some of this might be of some use to you. Happy New Year. Jim.