Mophead45143

Haha, if I was modelling the Erewash Valley then yes! Indeed, no mining in Chesterfield itself. Cameron

Crikey, that was a headache for a minute! Thanks for spotting the copy and pasting error, which must have happened when I swapped some numbers around last year! It was supposed to be 20188, so yes it should have been marked as having a headcode box. Both 20188 and 20016 should also be on Toton's books, not Tinsley's! I have removed the Lima 20's from the list now anyway, and they may or may not remain in the active fleet. There is some sentimental value with them so they may appear from time to time. The 20's on the list below are all Bachmann. The fleet list has been amended, and is copied below (always subject to further change!). Loco's in a 'mustard' colour are not yet on the books as they don't exist yet! In the case of the 25's, these are all due to me selling my old Bachmann class 25's to be replaced by new models from SLW, and perhaps Bachmann's new tooling if that ever happens. I have not yet considered a number for a Bescot allocated 25/1 (or early bodied 25/2), as I will wait and see what variants SLW produce when they get round to them. 37001 is on order from Accurascale, with the rest of the tractor fleet being made up of Bachmann products. 47445 is for when Bachmann eventually do a banger blue 47/4 in the new tooling - not essential, but would be rude not to get one when it comes out! Lastly, the 56's will be from Cavalex. Regards, Cameron

With Christmas and New Year out of the way, I took advantage of the bonus bank holiday and completed another milestone, that being the raised track beds on the dropped baseboard section. These will allow the bridges over the River Rother and Crow Lane to be modelled, as well as the transitioning embankment as the land contours come back up to track level. The first step was to cut the ply for the track bed using some off cuts from the larger boards. For the up / down main this was easy as these tracks run in a straight line into the station platforms. The slow lines were not quite as easy due to the reverse curve, and therefore required a little more thought. I was quite happy with the profile of the curves from my test in the previous post, so I carefully repositioned the track from the test on to the sheet of ply. They retained their profile with only minor adjustment required, before promptly being secured by blu tack again. Once secured, I used one of the old Airfix Mk2's with a BIC stuck to the side to mark out a line along the cess where the boards would be cut. I kept this quite tight as the bridge retaining walls will be quite close to the tracks. The cess can be built up with scenic materials later on where required. Once the lines were marked out it was time to cut them using a jigsaw. The ply was then secured to supporting columns, then end columns in turn being secured to the adjacent boards. Some shimming was required in places to ensure everything was dead level. I am quite pleased with how these have turned out, and that everything is looking nice and level along the boards. Don't want the appearance of mining subsidence on this layout! Regards, Cameron

For such a gentle curve, there's very little tension in the rail so it'll stay in place all day, even without anything to secure it! And that blu tack is quite old so has limited sticking power! And yes absolutely, although from looking at photos, the super elevation was VERY subtle on the freight lines, so I will need to be careful not to over do it. Just the slightest hint in 00 would be enough I reckon. Thanks for your kind comments! Cameron

Above is the scenic section of the track plan. To the far left is the short gantry for the up main signal, which also had a feather arm, which I assume allowed terminating DMU's from Sheffield to cross over from the up main, in order to use the down platform for departure. A combination of the gantry and the surrounding trees will hopefully help to detract from the gaping hole in the back scene. I could just use the footbridge as the scenic relief, which would mean a little less compression on the rest of the layout, however I like the idea of being able to see a freight stood at the signal on the up goods. Plus, the wooded area would make a nice scenic relief. The centre of the layout is dominated by the crossovers, for which I intend to use Peco long radius straight points. The crossover from the up / down main is virtually straight, however the rest will be on a shallow curve, so the points will need bending slightly. I will be reducing the '6 foot' to something like 1.8" rail to rail, which is a slight visual improvement over the 2.05" streamline rail to rail spacing that Peco use. The points will therefore need a little careful trimming. I could go a bit closer, but this is another compromise that will reduce the amount that the tracks have to part before the tighter off scene curves. While we're on the subject, I have also done checks which give me confidence that my longest stock should pass on minimum radius 2' curves, with a rail to rail spacing of 2.05". There are threads that discuss this subject in great detail, but everyone has different requirements and therefore it's often best to carry out your own experiments. While my tolerances should be fine for peaks and 40's and Mk1's / Mk2's, they might not be suitable for the more modern Mk3's and 158's etc. Luckily, I model 1977!!! The right hand side of the layout (south) is where the most compromise will be needed visually. As the real location already had a lot going on in a short area here, compressing this by 50% will be a challenge. It will probably mean that the bridges will have to be made shorter than scale, or else they will make the rest of the scene look awkward. At the end of the day, this will never be an entirely accurate representation of the real location in terms of scale, but within the space constraints I will try my best to ensure that the scenic details make up for this. The aim is that there will be no mistaking the prototype location. The scenic break here will be partially hidden by the station buildings, which I plan on portraying as low relief against the back scene. Part of the platforms and buildings will carry on a short distance to give the impression that the scene does not suddenly cut off, but carries on out of sight. This will be true of ballast / scenic work at both ends of the layout. Hopefully that gives a clearer understanding of what I hope the layout will look like. As I say, the station area will need a bit of playing about with as the layout develops, and therefore proportions may end up looking slightly different to how it appears on the plan. Regards, Cameron

Another exercise I completed was to check the profile of the reverse curve of the goods lines, which creep around the back of the station at the north end. I temporarily laid out some flexi track, secured only by blu tack, matching the dimensions dictated by my track plan (about 6 foot in length, i.e. two lengths of flexi). This section of track will mostly be on a raised track bed at the dropped baseboard section, as some of it will be on an embankment and the bridge of the river / road. As such, I wanted to check that the curves were visually appealing before cutting out any plywood for the raised track bed. As I stated at the beginning of the thread, the area being modelled is being compressed by about 50%, so each part of the scene will have to be a bit shorter than it really was. In the case of the reverse curves, that means they will have to be a little bit sharper than scale. However, I think they still look pretty good! The old Airfix Mk2's (incorrectly portraying standard class coaches using a first class tooling) are not part of the active fleet, being superseded by Bachmann MK2F's. They will however yield useful underframe equipment for converting the Bachmann Mk2F's to Mk2E's, which were more common on the Midland Mainline. The code 100 track will also be confined to the fiddle yard, with code 75 being used on the scenic section. One thing I am most looking forward to when the layout is well progressed is the sight of freights 'snaking' around the back of the station on the reverse curves, as that will be very satisfying, particularly a long rake of MGR's behind a 47 or a 56! Regards Cameron

Happy New Year all! Activity over the last month or so has been pretty non-existent, as life around Christmas tends to get in the way of hobbies! I did make some progress during a 'warm' day in November which I never got around to uploading, that being the coating of the baseboards in a dark grey primer. How much protection this gives the woodwork is anyone's guess, but it's much nicer to work with and is far better than looking at bare wood. The lift out section still needs some more coating (only managed to coat the top at the time), but today I fitted the bolts to secure it in place to the neighboring boards. Electrical conductivity will be achieved separately once the track is down, using some form of plug / socket arrangement. Finally, some treats! Having placed the orders months ago, a couple of parcels arrived in time for Christmas (presents from me to me!). These were two of Bachmann's new class 47's (47012 in BR blue, of course...), and eight of Cavalex's fantastic Bauxite BBA's. The BBA's are available in four different running numbers in this livery, so only half will need renumbering. The 47's are (at the moment) planned to become Tinsley's 47175 and Stratford's 47165. The former will predominantly be used on freight, and the latter on the Harwich boat train. Regards, Cameron

Stumbled across this rather hellfire picture on Flickr of a HOP AB in use as a barrier vehicle on an oil train, seen passing Healey Mills in 1972. Cameron

Surely it would be easier to install / wire in a headlight, as appose to retrofit a headcode box on to a model that doesn't have one? That's before the re-spray, although granted they have not yet announced a green model with Serck radiators in the new tooling. Cameron

The light grey is very accurate, particularly for the 1970's & 1980's (they look almost white in photos). The TMC / Bachmann MEO's are far too dark for comparison. I guess they didn't look as light when 'new' in the 1950's / 1960's however? Cameron

The old model stands up very well there, but I'd say overall the new one has the edge on capturing the look of the real thing - and so it should! You probably wouldn't notice most of the differences until comparing them up close like this though. I don't think anyone should be worried that it might show up their older Bachmann models. Picked up a couple of blue 47012's myself, they will get renumbered and join the rest of the Bachmann fleet. Cameron

There's one in this train at Perth in 1976. I assume it's a non-ETH diagram O.62, of which Accurascale are modelling two in blue, albeit with WR destination boards on the sides. I pondered before if these boards are removable, or part of the tooling? If removable they'd give a bit more scope for running in other regions. Regards, Cameron

An excellent choice for a new model this! They certainly weren't common on the midland region in the mid-late 1970's, but they did make appearances in parcels rakes from time to time. A couple of photos below: 1. Leeds 1976 2. Crewe 1978 Assume 'Siphon G - Dia. O.33 (NMV) - BR Rail Blue: W2980' is a pretty good match for the one at Crewe in 1978? https://accurascale.co.uk/collections/siphon-g/products/siphon-g-dia-o-33-nmv-br-rail-blue-w2980 As for the one at Leeds, that's noted as a diagram O.62. The two non-ETH diagram O.62 that Accurascale are producing have destination boards however, so this one would be harder to portray, unless the boards are separately fitted? Cameron

Some details maybe, but not shape.

You may have hit the nail on the head there...

They're still going to do it (and 47435) but it will be the new tooling, so new prices also. Cameron

Just found this interesting shot of 25271 with plenty of HUO's full of stone at Wirksworth in 1978. Don't think I've ever seen a photo of 24.5t hoppers here, only 21t tonners. Regards, Cameron

I did just that, then opened RMweb and saw your suggestion! Am I right in thinking 25324 sold out on pre order, or was it just the most popular seller, prompting further blue versions? Cameron

Oh yes, you have to study prototype photos carefully, and what may be a match one year won't be the next after a trip to the works! In that sense 25145 was a match, as it seems that it retained it's lamp irons and headboard brackets right up until withdrawal in 1986. Regards, Cameron

That is most helpful, thank you very much for the explanation! I wonder if the speedo's will be part of the axle box moulding on the bogie, or if they will be separately fitted....? Are there any other external differences between a 25/2 and a 25/3 that would need to be taken into account if renumbering 25324 into a late bodied 25/2? I was considering 25145 as a prototype. Regards, Cameron.

That makes more sense, I just saw there was some wet glue in the photos while the drawing pins were present. So they will have just been holding the alignment until the glue was dry? Cameron

Hi Phil, Looking good. Do you temporarily pin track down into the cork with drawing pins to get the alignment, then drop in glue with the track remaining in situ? Regards, Cameron

Can anyone please enlighten me on the following... The website description states that 25216 will come fitted with the 'original mechanical speedometer'. Does this mean that there will be some physical differences, say equipment on an axle box that would differ from 25324 for example? As the best representation for a bog standard blue version, I ordered 3x 25324's when first announced for renumbering to other locos. 25216 would of course be another good candidate had I not already ordered 3 loco's, but from my current understanding, the only differences I can see are.... - Earlier style OHLE panels. - Position of TOPs numbers / data panel. - Position of multiple working Blue Stars. - 0000 headcodes as appose to domnio. - Vacuum only as appose to dual brake. All are things I am prepared to customise myself based on the prototype being modelled. I am aware of things like brackets on the front end and boiler grilles being plated over etc., but do I also need to consider speedo types when choosing a prototype? I am aware that I am prizing open a can of worms here when it comes to class 25 detail differences! Thanks in advance, Cameron

Thank you!

Just to clarify, I am referring to Crow Lane which passes under the north end of the station along with the River Rother. It's a narrow road and to avoid cars meeting under the bridge there are traffic lights today. As traffic levels were generally less in the 70's, I wondered if there would have been lights there then? My scenic break will be where the station buildings start at the north end, so south of the station will not be covered on my layout. Cameron