sbduck

I had the 'Eureka moment' for this diorama after browsing through a book about the Narrow Gauge Railways of Britain that I'd been given by a work colleague.

It's been a long time since our last entry..... Twickenham has been hibernating for various reasons, but the first signs of awakening this Spring (!) are our new control panel – seen here attached to board 3 on our January workday. We’re now working on the mimic diagram, then some hardware and wiring, then the dreaded MERG programming! Come and see how we’re getting on!

Inspiration has struck (possibly twice in a similar theme) but I'll stick with idea number 1 for now. I'll be ordering the baseboard from Model railway scenics very soon. Do we have a closing date for the challenge yet?

The September workday turned-out to be a milestone day in several ways. We now have a control panel fascia. Hurrah! This is silk-screen printing on an aluminium/plastic sandwich and very professional it looks too! Dead chuffed (If you pardon the pun! )! The plan is that over the next three months or so, this will metamorphose into a work box of electronic wizardry which will enable us to route set on Twickenham Junction...

It's been a long time since I posted about the new weighbridge. I apologise but real life (i.e. the new job) has slightly got in the way. Fred is issuing a 'chitty' through the partially open door while answering a phone call. The windows(and glazing) have been attached to the apertures Karl is processing the latest delivery while Fred is at the door. Another angle of Karl Another view of the interior of the weighbridge The weighbridge paired up with the weighplate (I wasn't impressed by the the plate provided by the kit company (Ancorton)so I decided to use the plate from the original Northwick weighbridge. Another view of the weighbridge interior paired with the weighbridge 'plate' The weighbridge minus the roof but with the weigh plate.

All too soon it was time to pack up and go home. So what better way to clear the decks than create a Mega DMU. Here is a link to the video of the mega DMU leaving Northwick

The class 128 DPU was moved to the cattle dock aftewr the 101 was moved. The Grand Central HST passes the scout's camp en route back to the North East.

It wasn't all play, however. The new station hotel was test fitted in front of the new corner in the town scene.

A 3 car Class 104 (Calder Valley unit arrived. A 3 car class 108 arrived towing a parcels van.

Last week we had a running night. The theme for the night was DMUS. 2 GWR railcars and a class 153 are stored in the reception sidings while a Grand Central HST delivers it's passengers. The Grand Central HST awaits the return of it's passengers. A Derby Lightweight 2 car unit arrives into the bay platform while the Grand Central HST awaits the 'off' The class 153 waits for the next turn in the goods yard headshunt. 2 GWR railcars are stored in the engine shed. A Class 350 on test from Eastgate and Ammanford Junction arrived while the Derby Lightweight and Grand Central HST waits to depart A Park Royal Railbus arrived in the bay platform. The resident Wickham trolley got in on the action. A 3 car Metropolitan Cammell Class 101 arrived and was parked in the new cattle dock. A 2 car class 117 arrived and was stored in the turntable siding The class 101 was joined by a class 128 DPU in the Brake Van siding while a 2 car power twin class 105 in the goods siding. Another GWR railcar arrived and was parked in the station pilot's siding. And another GWR railcar was parked in the refuge siding while the class 117 awaits a space in the station.

A few posts ago I showed a 3d printed model of a GWR O4 Syphon wagon. Here is the model after it has been painted and assembled. Another of my current projects is an updating of an old Hornby collectors edition PO wagon (Pugh & Co.). I have rewheeled the wagon with finer wheels and applied some weathering. I've also recently built a Cambrian kit of a GWR Loco Coal Wagon, here it is in undercoat prior to being painted. Another ongoing project is a rake of Diag 1775 hoppers, here is the rake in various states of development being hauled by an S15 on our Multi Gauge Test Track

After last weeks running session it was time to start work on the new cattle dock siding. First, the ballast still left from the original siding's alignment needed to be cleared. , An initial test of the new alignment highlighted an adverse camber. This was alleviated with some plasticard. And finally the new cattle dock was test fitted in it's proposed location

The opportunity was also taken to test fit the new weighbridge. Here is the latest progress of the weighbridge in the proposed position.

As well as the running session, I brought some of my latest projects for test fitting. Here is a GWR 6-wheel low roof Siphon Diag O4 which I've had 3D printed from 3D community Shapeways (shapeways.com). This is the kit with it's 3 component parts loosely put together. These are as they came out of the package. All that's needed now is to fit some bearings and a wheelset then apply some paint and transfers before marrying up the component parts.

Another couple of views of the 'mega pullman load-ex'

I have a similar problem, only my kit is the SE Finecast version. As a result, I'm also looking for a set of transfers appropriate to the APOC tank wagon during the BR transition period (mid-late 1950s to early 1960s. Did you eventually find the transfers for this distinctive design of wagon?

Mudpies or ballasting? Our only truly errant point – CY3. It’s front of house and has two fundamental gauging faults with it; so here it is being prepared for removal. It may never do much in its life, but it has to work correctly! A couple of weeks on and the point has been kindly and expertly repaired by a Northwick Group member and is ready to put back in place – we owe Northwick big time! Thanks very much indeed. Proof that illustrious members do graft.

Hi Peter, I believe shawplan do laser glaze for the mk2s http://www.shawplan.com/extreme_coachandunit_Laserglaze_4mm.html

With the extensions on boards 3 & 4 nearing completion it's time to start thinking about the extensions for boards 1 & 2. Board 1 will incorporate a revamped goods yard. We have never been happy with the design of the current weighbridge, or it's location so we're going to take the opportunity to replace and relocate the weighbridge in the yard. For the new weighbridge I've selected the laser cut kit from Ancorton Models, partly because it has the appearance of being stone built like the rest of the buildings in the yard and partly because it has a large window at the front which invites the viewer to look inside which means that this is a kit just begging for extra detailing. Here is the kit at the halfway stage with the coping stones and arches fitted and the newly assembled roof beside the main body of the building. Here are a few shots of the building with a test fitting of the roof. The next stage is to paint the various components in readiness for final assembly and to build the weighing equipment (which should be interesting as it will be my first scratch build unless I can find a ready to plant version of the equipment).

One of the 'Northwick irregulars' is approaching completion. A pair of Southern match trucks, as they are going to be semi-permanently coupled, the pair have been 'married together' by a 3-link chain. All that's left to do for this pair is the application of another coat of paint and some transfers.

After the debut of the unpowered Wickham trolley model at the Aldershot exhibition I decided that the model looked to have a little too much maroon colour. A quick look at some reference photos confirms that the roof on the maroon trolley's is painted grey (similar to Maroon coaches) with a slight variation from trolley to trolley. Some trolleys have the 'forehead' of the trolley (the section of body between the upper part of the window and the roof) painted grey as well as the roof while other trolleys have Maroon 'foreheads'. The model has now received a grey roof.

Northwick is now setup in the Sports Hall of the Connaught Leisure Centre, Tongham Road, Aldershot in readiness for the Farnham Model Railway Exhibition this weekend http://farnhammrc.org.uk/?page_id=158. If you're in the area, why not come over and say hello and check out our recent changes and additions.

Just like buses, you wait ages for a new entry in this blog and then 2 come at once, LOL :-D As seen on my workbench t’other day – Twickenham’s second hand watertank (it had originally been installed at Richmond in the 1840s and moved to Twickenham in 1850 – it lasted in use in excess of another 100 years…). This is an underside view – note the output pipe coming from under the RH side of the tank. A little more to do but nearly there… An hour or so later and here is the tank with its lid – I have to fit some I-section girders to the underside and we’ll be all done bar the painting and weathering…

Sorry for the gap in communication. It’s been summer (what a lovely one too!), but we have been busy. The 23rd July Open Day didn’t pan-out quite how we wanted it to. Great shame and a shame for our guests – sorry for that! Guess what, the following week with three defects resolved, we had trains running on DCC the whole way round… honestly, we did… Since then, I have blown up most of our MERG modules: the Chairman has kindly taken on sorting out what is salvageable or not. Without a control panel, it’s not the end of the world at the moment. Meantime I have been testing our point motors (Tortoise on C&L bases). 1 is problematic, another 3 need some lubing or minor fettling. The rest work like a charm. Dead chuffed A busy team are steadily ballasting (to a very high standard – really pleased with what they’re doing!) and next week I plan to fit cosmetic brass and plastic fishplates The substation has been glazed and is in the queue for weathering later this autumn – photo to follow. Likewise, the Albany and villas are moving along. Watch this space. Another cheeky project follows in a moment…

You're welcome, Watch this space for the forward extensions of the other 2 boards (and the town board). Our plans for those boards should really put the icing on the cake.