thegreenhowards

Very effective painting. I’m impressed.

Lovely, is that metal I spy for the chains?!

I thought you might give it a minus rating! Despite being a DCC convert, I have to agree with you. A bad running loco, particularly one with dodgy pickups, will be worse/ unusable on DCC. Although this situation can be reversed with a good stayalive, such things shouldn’t be necessary. Generally new RTR stuff is a doddle and runs well straightaway on DCC. Kits are a different prospect and I tend to dread fitting a kit with DCC. Some work well first time and I’m getting better at anticipating problems, but some can be a right pain. Using a good decoder is a good start- I always use Zimo if I can (I.e. everything except 0 gauge Heljan diesels). On the other hand, a loco which runs well tends to be improved at slow speed with DCC. Andy

I can relate to Tony’s scale, but I’ll never get to a 10 as the scratch building bits are beyond me and I rarely get a kit built mechanism to work as well as an RTR one. I find coach building more my level - it only has to be pulled smoothly! There’s quite a gap between 1 and 5 where most of the detailing and weathering RTR which we’ve been talking about would presumably fit. I wonder where fitting a decoder comes on the scale! Andy

I’m looking forward to the N7 Rob!

I know you'd 3D print the wheels if you could get away with it, but surely the chains holding the boiler down would be better modelled in brass!

Just catching up on this thread after a few days away - a lot of reading! I chose the transition era not because I remember it as a kid (too young), but because Deltics and 40s were my first loves and I wanted to include steam. I also hate 47s, so my period finishes in 1962 just before the first 47 arrived at Finsbury Park! In O gauge, where I spend the majority of my time now, I’m modelling Glenfinnan station in the 1970s/ 80s (https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/173956-glenfinnan-station-in-o-gauge/). That gets round the 47 problem (they weren’t allowed) and allows me to run steam on the Jacobite. I will probably also run it in 1950/60s and possibly even 1930s guise as the infrastructure didn’t really change. Andy

He clearly wasn’t a proper football fan then, as proper fans don't change teams! I say this as my own childhood choice sinks towards the third tier, but I will still be there at every home game next season.

I got sidetracked from building my Glenfinnan layout this afternoon as I was going through a set of locos which our club has obtained from an estate loft clearance. One of these was a Hornby Terrier, Rolvedon. This reminded me that I had an old Wills(?) J69 body lurking in one of my projects drawers. I built this in my teenage years but I don’t think it ever had a chassis - if it did, I have no idea what happened to it! Now I have produced a J69 in O gauge using a 3D printed body resting on a Dapol Terrier chassis, so I thought , why not do the same in 00? It fitted remarkably easily, with just a little white metal to remove. I’ve attached it using a couple of plasticard pads on the bottom of the white metal and self tapping screws. So, after two hours work, we have a working J69. It’s looking a bit rough as befits a body which has been knocking around for 40+ years. I will have to source some steps, buffers and some detailing parts and find a crew to hide the fact that there is no cab detail. I then need to think about either tidying the paint or redoing it - probably the former. As for an identity, I think a few of these acted as pilots at GN stations, so i will chose open of those. It’s nowhere near the standard that Accurascale’s will be, but their’s provided me with a kick up the backside so that, after a 40 year wait, I have a working J69. Andy PS Anyone want a Hornby Rolvedon body?!

Better forget that new job Rob…you’re not going to have time for it!

The Gauge O Guild shows are excellent for specialist retailers - there aren’t so many boxes to shift in O Gauge. Even that rarity the lessor spotted D&S were present at Kettering recently. Danny is still selling his O gauge kits but has no online presence so suspect that these shows represent most of his sales. Dapol had good sized stand, but the biggest (as far as I can remember) were Ellis Clark and Ray Heard offering mainly second hand kit built stuff. I spent too much! Andy

Those who have been paying attention will have noticed that the last (westernmost) board shown yesterday isn't on the original plan I produced. I've extended the layout to six boards with a small 4'x1'1.5" extension to give the reverse curve. This is the pink board shown in the new plan below. I thought this was important as this curve gives some character to the station area and houses the home signal which is necessary from an ops point of view. It also gives me space to provide a scenic break which I will do by bringing one of the concrete road overbridges a few hundred metres closer to the station.

I did have a busy weekend planned but I’ve got Covid so I’m consigned to ‘barracks’ instead. I’m not feeling too bad, so got on with track laying on the West of the station yesterday and this morning. This has extended from the end of the platforms to two more boards which contain the gentle reverse curve as the track heads West from Glenfinnan as shown here and in the post above. My take on it looks like this. At that point I’d just applied the glue. It’s now under a lot of weight as shown below. Hopefully it will dry over night in the garage and I can do some wiring tomorrow. I’ve now finished the scenic track laying and I’ve just got to think about fiddle yards. Initially it will fit into my garden circuit, but I want to take it to exhibitions as well so will need some portable fiddle yards. Andy

D.157s are easier. I did attempt to build scratchbuild a D.227 from plasticard, but it looked a mess. The corridor side is the same for both. Andy

Clive, Mine is nearing completion. It’s based on laser cut plastic sides from Roy Mears. The rest is cobbled together from MJT and 247 bits and pieces. Note the different window arrangement compared to the D.157 (I made this by cutting and shutting Kirk kits). Andy

He may well finish the build, but then he has to paint them in a variety of liveries!

Gilbert, That’s the same as the SLS listed in the Aberdonian. I.e. a D.95 or 109 as per the Kirk kit and I think Isinglass may now do it. The 56 capacity represents 28 per coach. These coaches were like continental couchettes with four berths per compartment (two each side) and were pretty basic with no mattress or bed linen. You may also see reference to D.148 SLSs which were on 65ftunderframes and had 8 compartments so 32 berths and weighed 38 tons. They rode on heavy duty bodies whereas the shorter ones used ordinary bogies. They were slightly better equipped with a proper mattress - luxury! Hope that helps Andy

I’ve been working on the other buildings for Glenfinnan. I think these will need to be scratch built as I can’t find anything suitable off the shelf. I’ve rarely scratchbuilt buildings before, so this will be a learning curve for me. First up is the lamp hut as shown here. Here’s my attempt at it. The window frames rather beat me and the close up is cruel, but I think it will look fine on the layout. Next up, I want to have a go at the platelayers (or similar) hut on the western approach as shown here. Does anyone have any better pictures of it, or a similar WHL extension version? I’m not even sure whether it’s made of timber or concrete - any thoughts welcome. Andy

Well let's take your favourite Summer 1958 WTT and taking the Aberdonian as an example, it lists the following sleeper vehicles: SLS, 28 berths, 35 tons; 3x SLSTP, 22,43; twin SLF, 19&20 berths, 62 tons; and 2xSLF (SO), 10,43. Looking at Harris, I take these to be (in order): A D95 or 109. Basically the same but I think D.109 had a wider body. This is the Kirk kit. 3xD.368 (from the 22 berths) but could also be D.369 which had no attendant's cpt but an extra berth. I suspect they were listed as the lower number of berths to be on the safe side. D18/19 or the earlier GNR equivalent. Probably a Gresley D.157 or D.227 - the only difference was window spacing on the berth side. I suppose these could have been interchangeable with Thompson SLFs, but these had 11 berths. Does that make sense? Andy

I’m not sure I qualify as expert, but I’ve built models of most of them over the years. What’s the question?

I say good luck to Hornby. They seem to have produced a perfect model for their target audience of oooh, doesn’t it look pretty and doesn’t it go well at 200mph! However, anything smaller than 4mm is a compete irrelevance as far as I’m concerned because I can’t see it! I wish they’d turn their attention to the senior scale - we could do with a bit more competition. Andy

Do you mean that the AB wagons had through vac pipes? Otherwise I don’t understand how it would have helped.

I agree with that point. And for anoraks like me the mix of vac and air brakes wagons in the same train didn’t ring true. Would this ever of happened? Presumably only with the vac braked stuff at the rear and unbraked? But these are minor points. The scale and finesse are mind blowing.

I enjoyed my trip to Harringay’s yesterday. Here is a short video I took in case anyone is interested. The two 56s running parallel on diverging routes was truly a magnificent spectacle! One question. Nothing seemed to be using the Halifax lines while I was there. Was there a problem or are they just much less used than the others? Andy

If we were talking about Tony’s type of specialist model shop then there would be more reason to lament them. But I think the only places one will find loco kits, buffers, wheels etc. is at a specialist show or mail order. As for more generic model building supplies such as plastic section, I prefer to but unbranded items on eBay or Amazon at less than half the price. I agree about the annoying tactic of forced selling of Prime. I also succumbed on one occasion but I did remember to cancel. I did occasionally take out a free trial deliberately when I need something in a hurry! But now we have a family membership which I find rather good value for money when shared between several people. I do love free delivery. Finally, I managed to spend absolutely nothing at Harrogate today. That’s not a criticism of the traders on offer, but more that I was so hooked on Grantham and Heaton Lodge that I ran out of time! I managed to watch the whole sequence through on Grantham for the first time which must have taken a good three hours. Andy