thegreenhowards

Tony, I thought you might say that about the bogies as I know it’s one of your hobbyhorses! I have to say the length really doesn’t bother me. This picture shows the two together. Joan has the correct 10’ wheelbase bogies whereas Car No.77 has the ‘Railroad’ type which I measure at 9’6”. I challenge anyone to spot the difference at speed on the layout. Even side by side it’s difficult to tell the difference in length, although the reduced detail is apparent. What I do find annoying is the indentation by the axles which, I presume, is a relic of the dreadful Triang axles which used to protrude through the plastic. Thankfully mine have proper metal wheels. When I get round to it, I will fill and paint over these indentations. I take the point about curtains - I will paint some on. Actually the biggest issue with this rake is that the three ‘Railroad’ cars don’t have lit table lamps. I’m not a great fan of lit coaches as I tend to think that such things would not be apparent in daylight. But 7 lit and 3 unlit looks strange. So I either need to disconnect the 7 fitted ones or fit out the other three. I have bought some DCC concepts table lamps to retrofit the ‘Railroad’ examples, so will probably try that first despite my reservations as I’d rather not ‘vandalise’ my ‘super detail’ Pullmans. Regards Andy

Tony, You asked for some photos of my QoS. I did manage to find the ones I’d taken before and have restored them to their place in the Gresley Jn thread. However, these photos didn’t really do it justice, so I braved the heat in the loft this morning (it’s uninhabitable by the afternoon!) and took some more. This is the full train. The loco is a basic Bachmann model, with just coal, crew, headboard and lamps added. The cars have generally had quite a bit more work. The formation is similiar to yours - I can’t remember which CWN I used but it would have been a mid-late 1950s one. The cars are all mentioned as running on the QoS in the Ford books. First up we have Fingall and Car No.105 which form the Leeds portion. Fingall is a renamed Hornby while Car 105 is a Hornby cut and shut. The three cars 105/6/7 were ECML regulars and had different window spacing to the Hornby cars, so I had to cut up the sides and put them back together again. I wrote this up in my Coulsdon Works thread, but again, the photos have been lost. If anyone wants to see them, let me know and I’ll see if I can reinsert them. The name is a full length label from Precision Labels which helps hide the joints. Then we have Cars No. 161 and 70 - both renumbered Hornby, the former is wooden and the latter, all steel. These were renumbered with transfers as I hadn’t discovered the Precision Labels when I did these. Then we have Cars 83 and Joan, both Hornby all steel out of the box, apart from roof weathering. Then, Onyx and Zena. Onyx is a Hornby wooden and Zena is an older Hornby Railroad type, renamed with Precision Labels and fitted with SE Finecast flush glazing. And bringing up the rear we have Cars 107 and 77. Both were originally older Hornby all steel Pullmans fitted with SE Finecast flush glazing and Precision Labels’ names. Car 107 was a cut and shut on the sides and I had to do significant reworking to the roof and underframe to make it a wooden bodied variant. I started my cut and shutting with this one as I didn’t want to cut up a more expensive ‘super detail’ type until I’d proved the concept! Finally, there is the attractive end board, again from Precision Labels. I’m happy to answer any questions. Quite a lot of research went into this, but it was five or so years ago, so I may not remember it all exactly! Andy

I’ll be interested to see how you get on with changing the acceleration cvs. I’ve always shied away from that on sound chips for fear of upsetting the integration of sound and acceleration. Perhaps you could let us know how it goes? I love the weathering on ‘39. Looks very natural. Andy

That thrash is perfect! The acceleration seemed a little fast to my eyes though.

Yes…they would have been on my Gresley Jn thread but they will have been lost in the great RNWeb meltdown. So I’ll have to go back on my laptop and see if I can find them. If I can’t it will give me an excuse to run it and take some photos. Give me a day or two. Andy

The other issue when considering pre Mk 1 ECML Pullman trains is the mix of all steel and earlier vehicles. The all steel Pullmans were originally built in 1928 for the QoS, but later spread around a bit. However the train was still formed with a majority of all steel Pullmans with, typically, 2 or 3 earlier ones. They can normally be identified on photos by the prominent underframe trussing which is absent on the all steel cars. For example the first two vehicles in Tony’s photo of 60117 are earlier vehicles. The Anthony Ford series of Pullman car books has some example formations from observation in the back. This is what I used to form up my QoS which has three pre 1928 cars. Hornby do both types of car, but their pre 1928 cars only represent 5 typical cars and there were a lot of variations on window positioning etc. which means some cut and shut to create some of the cars if you want to be pedantic. Andy

I totally agree about the coal shovelling. Of course, with DCC, the operator can decide when to use it. I rarely do, but occasionally give it a burst when the loco is stationary at a station. Andy

All trains on your layout sound good, but the Napier roar would add an extra dimension. In theory DCC sound works on DC, but while it makes some of the right noises they’re often not at the right time and you lose a lot of control. So I wouldn’t recommend it. Andy

It’s competition which brings the price down more than anything. I speak as someone who is mainly buying O gauge at the moment (although I did bag an Accurascale Deltic). Heljan O gauge diesels are getting very pricy and we desperately need the competition that is now very prevalent in OO gauge. Thankfully, the price seems to drop after six months when the ‘small shop cartel’ finishes, so I’m now able to afford a second class 27. Dapol stuff is much more reasonably priced, but they have yet to venture into larger locos. Andy

It sounds fantastic as well! It takes me back to my 10 year old self on the end of FP with the earth trembling. Magnificent! If that’s doesn’t convince you of the benefits of DCC sound, nothing will. Andy

Looking great…although shame about the red woodwork!

Great stuff Rob, I cant wait to see the N7 running!

OK, must be the same occasion then - about 35 years too early for my Regional Railways liveried example!

Indeed, but should I go blue, 1970s style or early ‘60s green with SYE. The latter is the more attractive livery IMHO, but not correct without me adding a tablet catcher recess and sliding cab windows. Andy

I’ve seen a picture of one on the Glenfinnan viaduct but definitely back in the green era - maybe the same one although I don’t remember it being a skinhead.

Hmmm, now I do love Deltics. If one of the new Heljan jobs dropped to a similiar price, I might just be tempted, but as a rule I tend to try to resist such flights of fancy. As nobody makes RTR Mk 3s in O gauge and kit building such a rake would take a long time and be very expensive, I think that any Deltic would have to appear on a service train or maybe the SRPS railtour set if I ever get round to building that. Andy

While browsing Rails’ sale, I also noticed that they had reduced some 31s to £285 which seemed too good to be true for 3kg of lovely loco. So I succumbed to one of these as well which I’ve numbered as 31439 ‘North Yorkshire Moors Railway’.  Now I can’t see any possible justification for one of these at Glenfinnan - I think there were only five and during the early ‘90s - rather later than my time period ending in 1987. But if anyone can find a justification (perhaps a railtour?), you’d make me very happy! Failing that it will be a rule 1 engine for silly days. Andy

A momentous day yesterday as I ran the first train round the complete circuit in the garden. I had to wire up some of the new boards first, but the modular system I developed last year worked quite well and I just had to put the boards together in a different order. No video yet as I need a second pair of hands for that - hopefully later this week. The loco chosen for the honour of the first circuit was a new purchase. Rails reduced the price of several O gauge diesels recently which almost tempted me, but they then gave an extra 5% off a couple of weekends ago, and that tipped the balance. So I have a new green FYE class 27. I notice that as of today, Hattons have dropped the price to £442, so I may invest in another! I’ve numbered this one 5392 based on this photo from Flickr at Fort Bill. I had to choose an ‘English’ one as Heljan have only done these in O gauge and I didn’t fancy cutting the cab side open for a tablet catcher recess. 5392 arrived at ED in 1967. Now I notice that this one has yellow cabside windows whereas mine has white. Can anyone advise me on when the change from white to yellow took place? I’d like to keep mine white, but if I have to paint it yellow, then I’d better do it before I do the weathering. Andy

Personally I found Vol 1 of Banks and Carter a truly inspirational read and it is probably what started me down the road of modelling correct formations rather than just putting a few coaches together to form something that might have been a train. I was blissfully aware of the errors until Tony pointed them out and while they are a shame, for me it doesn't detract too much from the utility of the book. I will be in the queue for Vol 2. Andy

Thanks Tony, I think that you’ve told me about the smoke defectors before - I’ll get round to it eventually I promise! What is the grate lever? Is that the over on the side of the cartezi truck? Andy

Tony, I have a couple of DJH A3s, 60052 and 60108. Both were eBay purchases for just over £100 and, unusually, both worked fairly well on arrival. I think I had to tweak 60108 as it has American pickups and there were some shorting issues but 60052 worked perfectly. There were certainly some issues with 60108 (single chimney with smoke defectors , banjo dome, lamp iron position and the front buffer beam was a mess), but 60052 is as bought. 60052 has a quiet Portescap while 60108 has a DJH GB1. One day, I'll get round to weathering 60052! Andy

I love Diamond Jubilee. Did you have to do a tender swap to get the correct streamlined tender, or have Hornby done one like that? Andy

I took advantage of a quieter day today to try setting the whole layout up in the garden. This is the first tim3 since I built the hills. These three boards are looking rather bare, but at least they have their protective sandtex coat on. They are noticeably heavier than last time I got them out! The other three boards look a bit more finished, but still plenty of work to do. Next steps will be rhodi on the hill behind the platform waiting shelter, a quick ‘flock over’ of the other three boards and getting the circuit round the garden complete. Andy

That’s a lovely idea, but you’ll understand if I get the basics working first!

Tony, I thought you might like to know that Charwelton ‘into the ‘80s’ is at Railex this weekend. It’s the first time I’ve seen it in any guise, and I thought that layout was magnificent (including the working semaphores!). the trains all seemed to have credible formations and the weathering was convincing and homogeneous. I watched for a complete sequence - best part of an hour. Here are some photos. The locos were all DCC sound fitted which I know is not to your taste but I do think it works particularly well with diesels - I could tell what class was approaching before it was visible. The rest of the exhibition was excellent with several standout layouts which would have been worth the admission on their own. Also the traders were mainly specialist cottage industry types who were well worth talking to. No box shifters here! All the best Andy