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61656

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  1. With 47103 (praying to relevant deity that it remains so numbered) soon to be released into traffic, the freight fleet is making good progress. Next up are the Rats, which are already weathered and just need Kadees. I’m a little bothered by the different shades of yellow front end, but not enough to take action. Most of the speedlink fleet is already weathered too, although a couple of wagons need a bit of work. My previous efforts have left a shiny white residue in places, but that should be sortable. My current regime of using Humbrol colour wash doesn’t seem to have that result, long may it continue. After that it’s the turn of the Bescot 31. I tried to heavily weather that and it doesn’t look right at all. Reviewing pictures of dirty locos shows that the bodysides and cab fronts always stayed fairly respectable, even when underframes, roof and grills were deeply oil stained. You can make as much mess as you like, but you may need to clean it up!
  2. With hook and bar couplings temporarily in place, the weathered rake of Cavalex BBA wagons gets lifted out of Christleton Junction towards Moss End by an 85. These were often double headed over Shap by pairs of electrics, which is something that could definitely happen again here. The BBA wagons are much improved by a light weather and the addition of the steel uprights. How long they’ll last is another matter.
  3. Well that’s a pain… but appreciated nonetheless. Time to choose again.
  4. I have a problem with the Cavalex BBA steel wagons…. I don’t seem to be able to get them to run with anything other than standard hook and loop couplings. The supplied screw couplings are beautiful, and could be functional, but not on my relatively small radius curves (450mm in the storage yards). I think I’ll have the same problem with any chassis mounted coupling on such a long framed vehicle. The NEM pockets are set too far back for Hornby / Roco couplers and the Bachmann fixed pipes are too rigid. Kadees throughout might work, but they don’t look the best. Any other suggestions?
  5. Probably my favourite part of weathering a loco is doing the research on it. Bachmann’s 47035 is my only 47/0 and a central part of the freight fleet. I have a 1986 and 1987 copy of the Platform 5 book that gives good information on numbers, liveries, depots and class variations. Ideally I like to model a loco that was within regular range of Chester and in the right colour in Jan 86 and Jan 87, which gives me confidence that it’s right for my period. A quick look shows that 47035 was no more in 1986, having become a 47/4 in 1984. In looking for a suitable new number I usually opt for a Crewe Diesel allocation, and then try to find photos on Flickr to confirm livery, likely workings, any unusual variations and such. My 47/0 is used for various turns, but includes MGR and Freightliner, which it turns out are somewhat exclusive. Some of the 47/0 fleet were slow speed control fitted for MGR work and thus didn’t get used on much else. This is good news as it means I need another one! All this means 47187 is in the process of being created. 187 was a CD loco, banger blue, no slow speed, correct fuel tanks, regular freight loco, so looks like a good choice. It does need yellow headcode and a high intensity marker adding. Let the fun commence!
  6. With the production line back in full swing, an 85 waits to get the Dee Marsh to Mossend steel empties moving. The Cavalex BBA wagons are a lovely model and much improved by close coupling and the steel uprights. Just a pity they don’t have the Bachmann type couplings which would allow really close coupling. Like many of my freight rakes this one can probably be a truck or two longer. In this case, I may still even be able to acquire some!
  7. Don’t start the I was first debate - I’m still in hot water about the hundredth follower! The 20’s are fairly recent Bachmann offerings (December ‘22) with factory fitted sound. Given the choice again I’d go unfitted and opt for Legomanbiffo sound, but a 20 looks like a challenging speaker fit!
  8. The cameraman already had his hand in the air, hence the driver acknowledged with a single hoot.
  9. With the tanks and hoppers ‘done’, a quick video of each moving off to the fiddle yard to allow the next set to be worked on. The new class 56 getting the HAA’s moving. Then a pair of dirty 20’s roll in with the tanks. The signal’s not there yet, but the driver still slows until it clears for the middle road. There’s a short overlap in the middle road, so all trains are cautioned on the approach, except in the rare event of greens all the way through.
  10. A very light weathering for the 56… it may get heavier later, but it’s far too beautiful a model to risk. A varied level of weathering for the HAA’s; they’ll get the Point of Ayr tyre marks eventually. The eagle eyed will spot its coming in wrong line. The xray eyed will spot the couplings aren’t fitted yet.
  11. It’s been a while since I found some modelling time, possibly in part because of my ridiculous plan to weather every bit of rolling stock, change the couplings and clean the wheels. I faced up to the first challenge of getting the 20’s and tanks running. The kadee fitment was by far the biggest headache, but seem to be working fine now. Kadees are just on the end wagons, there are Smiths instanter couplings between them. For the moment I’m going to stick with the plan, but I have an emergency exit planned if needed. I also have something of a deadline as I’ve bought a surprise loco for a good friend (he’s not on RMweb before anyone gets excited!), which is due ‘this quarter’. It definitely needs a set of blue and grey coaches for when it’s unveiled. Meanwhile here’s the tanks passing the next set for weathering.
  12. The 45s look really good Pete, particularly 45110 with the orange cant rail. That’s the same one I want to do, but the lining is putting me off! I agree about the Heljan versus Bachmann too. The Bachmann just looks a lot more like how I remember them. I need to upgrade the speakers on mine, they were an early sound fit and have cheap tinny speakers. The modern ones are so much better.
  13. Christleton Bluebeck long ago lost its status as a full shed with dedicated motive power allocated to it. By 1986 it was reduced to a sub shed of Crewe Diesel. Usually the overnight home to just a motley selection of class 25’s and increasingly now their replacement 31’s, along with a couple of shunters. During the day it plays host to ETH type 4s and various freight locos between turns. The reversal of trans-pennine services means it’s still a good spot to see a whole host of traction. Class 56’s were pretty rare on the North Wales coast, although they did make a brief appearance around ‘83 on the fly ash trains that were part of the A55 construction. The new Cavalex model is far too beautiful to overlook though, so they will do occasional turns on the Fiddlers Ferry to Christleton MGRs before handing over to a pair of 20’s. They may also work some of the Stanlow tanks, although pictures of them on 4 wheeled TTAs are very thin on the ground. Absolutely amazing model. And just wait until you hear it!
  14. Mine arrived today. A similar job awaits - hopefully to a least a fraction of your ability! Class 56’s in ‘86 aren’t that common, although a few did the fly ash trains in ‘83 when they built the Conway bypass. Mine will nevertheless find themselves on the Point if Ayr MGR and the Stanlow tanks.
  15. One of those very indulgent Christmas gifts to self is due to arrive imminently, so track cleaning has been accelerated. The whole layout has been cleaned with white spirit. It certainly shifts some dirt! The premise of using white spirit is based on the theory that the leading cause of poor running is oxidisation of the rails, rather than the accumulation of surface dirt. Oxidisation is accelerated by micro-arcing - when locos are making a less than perfect electrical contact. This is encouraged by any abrasive cleaner which makes the rail rougher, or by any polar cleaning liquid. Water is a good example of a polar liquid, we all know how quickly it helps to oxidise metals. White spirit is non polar so should reduce micro-arcing. I have then applied a very very fine coat of “No Ox Id - a special” which is a very fine conductive lubricant. The theory here is that although it may attract dirt, being conductive it will maintain better wheel to rail contact and therefore better running. We don’t actually want clean tracks, we just want good running. It’s a theory at least! I will tell you in a few months if it has any noticeable and lasting effect, but certainly on initial application locos run very smoothly. My rule now is that nothing goes back on the track without clean wheels, a quick weather, and without tension lock couplings. We’ll see how long that lasts!
  16. Back to the job in hand. Before doing the track clean I thought it probably best to glue the fiddle yard track down. It involved a bit more track alteration than I thought, but it looks a lot neater for being straight. The 5 lines to the left are the Crewe sidings whilst the 7 to the right are for Warrington. Warrington sidings 2-4 also have an exit to Crewe. In theory there’s space for another line, but the point geometry is prohibitive. At least until I build something! Next job is to repeat it all for the 9 sidings in the Holyhead yard.
  17. I had hoped the availability of other manufacturers blue and grey stock would wake Hornby and Bachmann up to the demand, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. All we have now is an increased number of models that are still unavailable. A good friend of mine retired recently and was going to spend a huge amount of his lump sum on some ECML 1970’s stock. Although he had the money to buy several Deltics and matching rakes of coaches, it just wasn’t possible. The opportunity has gone now as he’s decided to do other things. In 8 years since I started modelling, it’s been really rare to be able to buy things in a shop. It seems so odd that the manufacturers and retailers have decided that blue and grey isn’t worth stocking.
  18. There are sections of 1432 currently the focus of some rough riding of new stock, which was designed for 1435. 3mm makes a big difference in 12”:1’ scale. Likewise I’m happy with 00. And the complete mix between measuring systems.
  19. I was wondering about that. This ‘little’ exercise is about getting a quick go over everything, I’ll (almost probably) return to things later to get the little details right.
  20. Second time this week that I’ve tied my own shoelaces together…
  21. It took me a long time to find the working time tables for Chester, so I’ve not really tried for the Crewe to Warrington table, but I do think it would be fascinating. With Christleton forming a West Coast loop, rather than the triangle that Chester provides, the services that could be routed this way are mouth watering. Unfortunately they are also fiddle yard demanding… But a motorail shuttle to Holyhead is very appealing. I have also found that at Glasgow they briefly attached a flat wagon to allow side platform loading of cars into the ends of the GUVs. Right up my street.
  22. I have found a useful rule of thumb: For coupling, the radius should be at least 4 x the longer vehicle length. For uncoupling, the radius should be 5 times. A 5’ radius (1500mm to a proper engineer) should be at least 5 times your longest vehicle. I have a 600mm radius curve to deal with. This means for uncoupling the longest vehicle can be 120mm. My hope is that if I bogie mount the Kadees I will get away with it. The loco couplings are already bogie mounted, so it is actually just 3 BGs that need modified bogies. I’m planning a curved test plank to confirm this. But before then… run some trains.
  23. You have to be there for 24 hours. 99 people now have unprecedented power!
  24. It’s always really good to receive such positive feedback. It makes the whole depths of despair worthwhile! There is a prize for the 100th follower, but unfortunately it looks like someone has taken offence at one of my many modelling faux pas and cancelled their subscription to the internet, so you are currently squad number 99. I know a couple of people have gone back and restored photos, but that seems like a lot of work. I could do a compromise and rewrite the first page so that newcomers know where to start. The back story took a lot of working up, but it’s probably not obvious if you just dip in the middle.
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