Revolution Mike B

With Dave's Par layout being the main feature, we've been thinking about a narrower layout to run along the back forming an operating well in the middle. Two locations spring to mind - Goonbarrow or Fowey Docks........watch this space!

They look the same as the first picture Phil, but with tops on!

Nick I’ve sent you a message

My replacement one is really good, but my OOC HST is terrible - there's glue on it and the dummy PC has a scuff on the side. When I took it back to swap it, the other one was even worse!

I'm working on it! Brian has said he'll have a go at etching some - I'm just making sure my dimensions are 100% correct. Both types, long and short.

What you really need is some nice etched deflectors.....

The NEM pocket on the power car sticks out a bit too far for my purpose, which is to close the gap right up - my gangways touch completely and will go round the fiddle yard curves with the Keen System. Looking at it, and the way I'm using the Bachmann pipe coupler, I reckon I could use the Symoba one on the power car and make the NEM pocket smaller, or having looked at your first picture again, I could mount them further back. I'll have a word with Andy and see if he has any spare ones kicking around that I can try. Thanks for the heads up

There's a good news story behind all of the issues with the first release of this model, and that is - Hornby have listened to feedback and improved the second gen version as follows. * Bogie issue now sorted - the bogie tower mounting has been increased to negate the need for the plastic C Clips * Extra weight has been added to every car to aid stability * Printing is crisper * Nose cone paint issue has been resolved - it now matches the rest of the yellow panel * Pantographs (although still plastic) are now pose-able The only odd thing is that the window tint is much lighter than the first release for some reason! All in all, this is now a cracking model even if it is a tad pricey. If Hornby do produce the intermediate coaches for the 9 car sets, they will be as close to the real thing as possible, however as already mentioned, it will create a headache with the rivet counters because an 800/3 or, an 802, will more than likely be unfinancially viable for them and we'll just have to add them to the 800s and pretend....which I'd be more than happy to do

That'll do nicely for the PCs. I've not seen them before - how do they cope with being coupled gangway to gangway and negotiating radius 2 curves? Mind you, having just checked, they're bloody expensive!

I've been a bit of a busy bee over the last few days, just whiling away the time with some basic modelling. Some drivers for the 'still work in progress' WCR 47... .... and weathering up my birthday present form Nicky.... After some prompting from Nigel, I also acquired some Kernow / Revolution JNA-Ts at the weekend which I've started to weather too.... ....but there's a couple of jobs that have given me the most satisfaction. I've been scratching my head for ages after being told I couldn't exhibit Oak Road at a 'finescale show' because I had tension lock couplings....which I find a bit hypocritical considering sprat & winkle couplings are no more prototypical....but it did get me thinking. The wagons I run have screw links in real life, but in model form, this gives rise to two major issues, firstly, there's no available option for sprung buffers on JNAs or IOAs, and secondly, myself, Ian and Rhys don't want to spend 4 hours coupling up a rake of 20 wagons! Cue my cunning plan.... ..this is a cut down Bachmann pipe coupler, with two tiny magnets glued to each half. The wagons can negotiate radius 2 curves (not that I have any on the layout) without falling off the track, and because of the design of the Dapol coupling cam, I could reduce the gap even further if I wanted to. The magnets are also very strong and I managed to tow a box of M8 bolts along without them separating. So cue the next bit. The MK3 coaches have been driving me bonkers with the overly large D Ring couplings, so I tried the pipe connector with the newer NEM pocket Hornby MK3 bogies....this didn't work because they didn't float - if one bogie tilted, then then the connected one would do the same. I'd looked at various ways of retro fitting the Bachmann cams but they weren't long enough for the 75' chassis, so I bit the bullet and bought some Keen Systems coupling cams. These aren't for the feint hearted as the coach floor needs to be cut out, and with the price of these coaches going through the roof, it was a difficult decision to make....actually, I lied, it was more difficult to work out where to cut the floor, than actually doing it! Standard D Ring.... Keen cam and socket..... ...this is how they look coupled up..... I was a bit dubious as to whether they would work but I brought them in to work this morning and they work perfectly! Unlike the wagons where I've cut one side of the pipe connector off, I've left these as the double width, and the next step is to add some 3x2x1 rectangular magnets to them. The power cars will need a bit of thought due to the tanks but I have a plan! Referring back to the XC coaches, Hornby made a livery error (really??) and left the black band off of the bottom of the tumblehome - this makes the coaches look completely wrong, so I've added it (well to two so far).... ....it makes the body side look shallower and the coach look longer. I've also added some emergency steps too.... One more thing of note is that I've bought a new type of point motor to trial as a replacement for the unreliable Conrads - I'll post an update later on in the week once I've had a chance to fit it.

Excellent! World's End is still one of my greatest inspirations. I'll look forward to seeing you.

This is the first sensible thing Dapol have done in ages!

Cheers Andy, and likewise. 'Young Mike'? I could get used to that!

Only just found this thread (still can't get used to the new format). Great stuff Pete - More inspiration! Mike

It's been really nice just to chill out lately and not feel the pressure of getting Oak Road out on the road. I've been playing around with a few things at home in the shape of 43185 - Great Western which has been done using a converted Virgin Power Car..... I've had some paint bleed from the masking tape with the red stripe so it's back in the spray booth being sorted. Then there's a little project to replace the awful Hornby Class 50 louvres with something that looks a little more realistic..... and fitted and painted to one of my 50s.... These are resin cast and are actually way better than my painting has made them look. If anyone would like a set, they're £15 non painted (from me) I've got a few more things up my sleeve by way of some MK3 upgrades including jumper sockets, emergency steps and gangway ends to improve the 50 odd HST trailers - I know it seems like a daft idea but I'm really starting to get to grips with modifying stock now, even if some of it does look like a dog's breakfast.....but practice, as they say, makes perfect! So, returning to the Swansea show, Richard Watson took this picture, and another chap on Facebook photo-shopped in the lights (they're broken). As with Ian's picture of the 50, it's made all the effort of building the layout worth it....

That's looking great Ian

Oak Road is now back at Grapefruit Towers and it can quite happily sit there for a while too because the weekend didn't go completely as planned. Unfortunately, Graham had to cancel due to family commitments but to be fair to him, with the traffic getting to Swansea taking us nearly 7 hours from Portsmouth, via Ian's, he may have arrived on Sunday! When we did get in to the venue, I'd realised I'd left the leg braces back in the workshop, and the space allocated for the layout was only 16'! Luckily, I had some wood in the van that Ian cut up (too short - my measurements not his) and we made some leg braces 'on the fly' which held up well, and we shoved the layout up as close as we could to the next one (Bradwell Point) to make sure we weren't stuck halfway across a walkway. It took a few hours for things to settle down on Saturday but after that, other than two point motors not behaving, Ian and Rhys did a great job of running the trains, with a mix of present day and 90s stock all weekend, and I'm very grateful for their help. There's now a list of priority things to do before the next show to aid reliability, and make putting the layout up and taking down easier, and again, a huge thanks to Ian & Rhys for putting up with me being an argumentative miserable git after Sunday lunchtime. I can relax and help operate a layout that works on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th October as Tidworth and it's new extension makes it's debut at Fareham

Oak Road in all its (unfinished) glory

Well guys, the Swansea exhibition is this weekend and the layout hasn't really moved on much since Taunton last year. It does however, have it's nameplate and fascia! I'm a bit miffed that I got superglue bleed on the extreme left fascia board so I need to try and cover it up somehow. I need to do a bit more painting and then it'll be packed up ready for the show. There's no layout sign on it so if you're travelling to Swansea, just look for the HST nameplate, or, 4 lunatics in bright orange and white T Shirts crashing trains in to each other! The team this weekend is your's truly, Ian, Rhys and Graham. Cheers Mike

Have to agree with you Ian - this really opens the layout up and gives it a whole new dynamic

As mentioned, Train-Tech have made something for me and a nice box of goodies turned up at Grapefruit Towers.... ...inside this box is 12 modified flashing tail lamp units that flash at twice per second, as with the modern MK3 Dorman lamps. They come with a battery and a very bright LED, but I use them to power the DCC Concepts rear lamps (filed down to make them look like MK3s) and they work a treat! Obviously, they're only good for trains working in one direction, so I've got some other wagons fitted with decoders for reversible trains. The part number is AL4 and although they're not on the Train-Tech website, you can order them by phone, or by email. Here's the unit bodged in to the bottom of an IOA.... I'll clean the hole up once I've finished. Next up, the 166 donated by Rhys is coming along nicely... and so is the 'old faithful' 158.... My painting is definitely dire but I'm kind of beyond caring now.....my arm hurts too much and I want some more units available for Swansea. So that brings me to this........ ....replacement louvres 'take two'! These are a much better fit than the first attempt and they're away for casting and will hopefully be available for the end of September. As far as the layout goes, there will be very little, if not any work done before Swansea, which is a shame, but with a knackered shoulder, and work being manic, it is what is is unfortunately.........but it all works, and we'll have lots of trains running

It's been a while since I've updated this thread, mainly down to work commitments and my arm / shoulder still playing up! I've not really done anything on the layout except drill a couple of holes, however, I have been a little busier at home getting my mojo back in order by way of some easy-ish modelling. While I was at the New Milton show with Ian, I bought 5 Hornby (made in China) Railroad TTA (sort of) tanks for £20 figuring I'd use them for a P4 MOD project I'm toying with, but that kind of went out the window a bit when I wondered how far I could get with making them look better without spending any money. Here are the tanks... .....here's what I was after...... ...and this is what I ended up with.... It's far from prototypical, but for £4 and some transfers, I can find a use for it on Oak Road, along with the other 4! I've also been messing around with a 166 Rhys gave me a while back..... ...it's moved on a bit since these pictures and I'm just waiting for some transfers. I've also cobbled together my old 158 from way back in this thread to resemble a GWR liveried one....... ....the paint work is shocking, and the doors need redoing, but there's no way I'm paying £240 for a new one! Once I can get a close up of the Air Dam from the side, I'll modify it to look like it's supposed to, and I may even cast them for people to convert theirs. The unit is just pushed together for now hence why the front is hanging off and there's no glazing. Justin has a list of stuff to knock up so I can get the station finished, along with some fencing for the stone bridge, and railings for the bridge at the other end, and once the bits turn up, I'll add them for the Swansea Show. And, talking of shows, I've just had invites to Ally Pally, Peterborough and Doncaster, which means more people can see it in the North East.....I'm working on the North West! So that's about it at the moment except one more thing...... I had a message from Train Tech asking me if I'd like anything from the range for the layout due to my support for Meningitis Now. This came out of the blue and was a really nice gesture, because unlike the existing 'sponsors' (I'm not sure what else to call them) who've very kindly helped me out, TrainTech don't know me at all! I've asked if they can make something for me and I'll let on what it is once they've done it. Right, back to the day job.............

That all depends on whether or not we can stop having strokes / car accidents, or any other unplanned interventions in the meantime!

It’s fine - Dave has a 100ft garden.....we just to to work out how to get the line out of the house