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It’s been a while since I got any time with the railway; holidays, house restoration and some good weather have all got in the way. The 304 project has been dominating my modelling time recently, and I’m at something of an impasse with the front ends. I’ve temporarily reassembled the unit to enjoy running it for a bit, whilst I consider what to do. Here it sits on the blocks, having come in from Oxford Road. It runs nicely so will probably stay in this state for a while. Having not operated anything for nearly a month, it took a while to clean the tracks and wheels. I really want to get away from abrasive cleaning, so that may be one of the next jobs. With services resumed, it’s 15.30 and a Penmaenmawr bound ballast train passes a mid afternoon Speedlink from Llandudno Junction to Severn Tunnel Junction. This is one the occasions when I regret not being able to fit two through lines in! With the speedlink in the middle road, the yard pilot spots a couple of vans into the brewery. This 08 is a shocking runner, I think there’s possibly a chassis fault leading the centre axle to wobble excessively. I thought it may be the quartering, but even changing the wheel sets hasn’t worked. I’d like to sort it and add a couple of trip freights to the timetable. Daytime shunting is very limited at the moment.

I'm very much a pantograph touching wires kind of person. I understand this may knock decades off my life expectancy. I'm also prepared to eternally regret putting them up before I finish anything else. With a fairly big solo layout like this, you have to prioritise or you'll just become despondent at the lack of progress. I'm also much more interested in something I can operate well, rather than something that looks perfect.

Early drafts for Christleton were mechanical. Then I saw the Bachmann 85 and the wires became part of the back story. A lot of yards and depots stayed mechanical when wired (indeed all 3 Pendolino depots were still mechanical when they were new), but any station of note was resignalled. I like the idea of a proper 70's power box. The building itself will be the same as Saltley / Trent / Warrington. In an ideal world it will be Westpac, but I suspect I'd need another room. The Colonel, head of ideas that he doesn't have to implement, has suggested a separate control and indication panel, which would be very pleasing. It will go nicely alongside my Solari split flap board (if you don't know Google is your friend, but you will lose an hour of your life).

I hadn't realised that was you. It was already book marked!

I have big plans for both. The station canopies need to go in first, which also means I need to do the kadee-isation, as auto coupling will be needed. There's also some minor fiddle yard additions so that I can have dedicated sidings for the 304, Hooton and Helsby services, as well as a longer siding for the MGR. I'm starting research on the signalling side, torn between using a proprietary system like mega points, using software (CBI) or doing a proper NX panel with basic relay interlocking. I favour the latter, but it usually takes 20 people 2 years to do a big resignalling, and I only have 2 hours every Wednesday!

The walls are lower down my list. There's a lot of details to go on yet, so I don't want to get side tracked. The absence of wires and signals bothers me more!

Definitely echo that approach. My intention is to get the layout and stock all completed to a basic standard and then go back and detail everything. The 304 is a little indulgence to break up layout building. Station, catenary and signalling are next.

I can’t decide if that’s inspiring or depressing! I knew the 304 kit from DC kits wasn’t available when I embarked on the Shapeways cabs, and I didn’t know they did just the cabs. There’s something not quite right about the DC kits version too, so it’s all a question of compromise. Now I’m this far down the road I’m not going to change horses, but maybe the next EMU build…

Right, let’s start with a massive thank you to those of you that have commented and offered advice and suggestions. The 304 project was in danger of stumbling at the final hurdle. After quite a bit of thought I reassembled it ‘as is’, but with most of the snags fixed, aside from the cab and yellow front end. This coincided with a visit from the Colonel, long term external consultant to Christleton enterprises. His advice is excellent, although he’s got quite a thirst for the local ale! The 304 slotted neatly into the timetable and ran really well on the Piccadilly / Oxford Road turns. The rewired motor runs a lot smoother, it benefited from both the inclusion of Bachmann electronics and from setting CV54 to zero (we can talk more about this if you have stuttering motors on DCC). When it’s just running about as part of the fleet you notice its imperfections a lot less. Here’s a few photos of it in service. I will do a video for those that like a tick and a ding (and a toilet flush… no idea why). If you’re of a cruel nature you can zoom in and see the front ends could stand a lot of improvement, but from a distance it’s a very pleasing representation of a 304. If you look closely you will see the cabs are glazed. The existing too large apertures have had 1mm perspex filed to fit. The thicker perspex is much better than the first attempt. The revised plan is to do a pragmatic amount of work to get them looking better, without it dragging into a lifetime’s work. The glazing is now removed and having the edges painted matt black, likewise the window apertures. I have smeared a thin later of Plasto over the cab fronts which I will sand smooth, hopefully this will reduce some of the roughness of the 3D printing. The can windows will then be refitted and I intend to mask them slightly smaller, to try to get the size and shape better. I have some 8mm masking tape which should do the job. I will then paint them flat white, with at least two coats to get an even finish. I’ll do any filling around the windows to give a smooth look. Then it will be as many coats of Railmatch yellow as needed. It’s going to take a little time, but hopefully will get an improved appearance without reprofiling the cab shape entirely.

D11-15 had doors, D16-30 had split boxes without doors. You can still tell on the split beams as their lights are closer together.

I always assumed that all split boxes had doors, I was quite surprised to find most of them didn’t. Of course they were all sealed beam by my period.

Massively grateful for the feedback and advice. The cabs have once again been taken back to bare metal ready for the improved painting process to begin. Based on @St Enodoc’s guidance I’ve done some research on yellow paint… the dungeons and dragons people have detail in spades on various forums. The overall conclusion is that white is definitely the best undercoat colour, and probably to use an artists acrylic for the white for the best ‘pop’ of colour (light brown works better for a duller yellow apparently). Here’s the first one waiting to go… Except before I undercoat them, I think @GordonC has hit something that’s been bothering me for a while. Are the windows too big? I think probably so. The question is how much to reduce them by? I think possibly 0.5mm on the top, bottom and outer sides. Or maybe just the top and side? Here’s a good prototype for comparison. Once I get to windows, then @TT100 Diesels’s tips will be followed. I used a sharpie for the inside of the windows (because it’s easy), but that’s a satin rather than matt finish. I think matt almost black and the same around the glazing will definitely help. Now all I have to do is get on with it!

So the 304 has been put together and has been running… There are a lot of things I’m not happy with, so best to refer to this as an early test run. Let’s start with a couple of photos and then I’ll describe the snagging list. From side on it’s not too bad. The driving cars need lowering by about 2mm and the centre car body isn’t sitting square on the underframe. From the front it leaves a lot to be desired. The supplied pipework is probably to scale, possibly O gauge! I’ve ordered some replacement pipes that are a lot less chunky. The yellow looks ok from a distance, but close up isn’t smooth or consistent in colour. And sadly my first attempt at glazing isn’t up to the mark. I’ve used very thin clear plastic, which is hard to cut accurately and doesn’t look right. Finally the running leaves a lot to be desired. I think this is because someone thought they knew better than Bachmann about wiring the motor up. In discarding the Bachmann control circuit, a couple of capacitors have been omitted which probably help smooth start up. They almost certainly played some sort of role! So, brave face on and head first into tackling the issues. Lowering the driving cars is straightforward and in doing so I’ve also reduced the amount of rock in the bogies, which definitely helps. On the motor car, I’ve shaved about 0.5mm off each side of the chassis with a long heavy file. It took ages but has got the body to fit a lot better. All 3 cars are now having their interior seating glued to the chassis which will help keep the bodies square. I have managed to rewire the motor and incorporate the Bachmann circuitry. I haven’t yet tested this other than on a short section of track to prove I haven’t blown the chip. That’s all the easy stuff, so on to the cab fronts. I decided that the best thing to do was to go back to square one. I removed all the pipework, windows and sanded the paint back to almost the plastic. With a smooth finish I applied a pleasing pale grey Humbrol primer and have started to build up some Humbrol yellow. Unfortunately this seems to cover as badly as the Railmatch, so I may need to find a third paint supplier. I have experimented with some 1mm perspex for the glazing. This is easier to work with than the very thin plastic as it can be sanded to shape. From a distance it looks very good, but close up still leaves a lot to be desired. I also have a problem in the the openings are square but they should have rounded corners. I’m wondering about slightly recessing the glazing (0.5mm), and then applying a very thin beading. The visuals may also be improved if I can distract from the thickness of the cab walls, which are reminiscent of a Lima moulding. Painting them black might not be the best solas that contrasts too much with the yellow. I think getting a smooth and consistent yellow finish with a straight edge against the glazing may be sufficient. I’ll continue with the yellow and see how it goes.

That’s a great looking idea. Now you just need a long throw centre off toggle switch. There must be such things.

Work on the 304 continues to progress, although each little job seems to take hours. And of course whatever you do usually needs to be repeated 3 times. As a distraction, to keep up the morale of the hard working chaps in the assembly shops, some of the lunchtime timetable was run. Management failing to appreciate that an hour of DMU shuttling wasn’t what was called for! Luckily some loco hauled sunshine broke through the clouds. All the way from Newcastle and almost at journey’s end is the 1M58 to Holyhead, some 4 hours since it left the Tyne. This is usually a Gateshead 47/4, and fairly often a generator, but today Western region Titan makes a pleasing contrast against the outbreak of the new Trans-Pennine livery. This period brought a fascinating array of colours on this route. What should have been a steady transition from blue and grey to trans-pennine often brought Intercity liveried coaches (mk2 Air con FK and mk1 BGs) and even Scotrail fullbrakes on occasion. One thing that recent research has shown is that the formation always had BG and FK together, followed by several TSO’s. Any strengthening coaches were almost always downgraded mk1 FO’s (Hornby did one, something to look out for on my travels). Next we see the change in motive power, with newcomer class 31 hauling 7D12, ballast empties from Hope Street to Penmaenmawr, past a class 25. The latter only having a couple of years left at most, whilst the 31 had another two decades. Finally we see a pair of 20’s passing through non-stop with a rake of mk1’s. This is as close as I can get to 20’s on passenger, they didn’t do trips to the Coast until about 1990. Today they are pulling 9D01, an RM&EE path from Llandudno to Derby. The path has timings for both 47 and 20 haulage, which is invitation enough. I can’t find any photos of this working, so it’s all guesswork at the moment. I could probably work out what was getting overhauled at Derby in 1986, but I don’t want to look too hard because it’s probably a 156!

The 304 underframes have been completed, including the battery boxes, brake cylinders and cooling system on the motor coach. Next job is the interiors, but to sort that I need to work out where the wiring for the lighting will go and the location of the dcc chip. I’ve mounted a mini cube speaker below the frames on the motor car and fed the wires through the existing speaker holes on the 419 chassis. The Legomanbiffo chip is 8 pin, the 419 is 21. My original intention was to use an adaptor between the two which has a small solder plate for me to pick up aux 1 (usually the green wire). The 419 has no connection to aux 1. Aux 2 is the spare purple wire (insulate the end if you’re not using it). I also need to pick up the white (forward lights), yellow (reverse direction lights) and blue (common) wires from the chip. These are all integrated on to the green pcb on the 419. Unfortunately they all go through an array of diodes, resistors and capacitors before going to the end vertically mounted LEDs. It’s not a simple job to break into these circuits cleanly. The next plan was to ditch the circuit board and use an 8 pin harness instead. Unfortunately the pick ups are built into the pcb. These work very well, so it seems a shame to lose them. Luckily both pick ups and motor connections on the pcb have no additional components before the 21 pin socket. This means I can have a hybrid solution using an 8 pin harness which connects for motor and pick ups only to the pcb, everything else can be direct to the harness. Here we see the prototype on my workbench. The track is connected to the DCC for testing. Anything metal is banished to avoid shorting the chip (which would probably blow it). The 5 connections for lights, white, yellow, green, purple and blue are all tacked to the bench to prevent them moving and shorting. I can then try the various lights to confirm that they work as intended before fitting. I’m using TTG class 25 lighting for the ends, as the domino and tail lights are the same spacing (these are the blue and white twisted pairs on the bench, there’s a yellow and blue set for reverse). Coach lighting is LED strip tape and cab lights are individual LEDs from Layouts4U. This does also mean I’ve had a sneak preview of the sound unit. Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick. Ding ding. Now I need to work out how to connect the wires between the coaches. I can probably have them permanently wired together, providing that the motor car can be unplugged from them all.

I could have used that article about 6 weeks ago! Does it mention how to deal with the awkward reconfiguration of Bachmann’s unnecessarily complicated control board on the donor vehicle?

If like me, you’ve never heard of the Berrow Branch then there’s an excellent link here: A fascinating half hour for me, especially the article on operating, which could almost have been written today. I couldn’t find mention of the pub though.

This is 1986. It’s a photo…

Christleton is of course a real place, there’s just not a lot of railway there in reality. It’s south west of Chester on the line to Crewe, and far too small to warrant a station. I picked the name because it’s geographically in the right place for my imagined redrawing of the Warrington to Chester line. I had to take my children for a week away with grandparents today, and we needed a suitable meeting point for a drop off between Stockport and North Wales. A park and ride within 2 minutes of Christleton was ideal, and allowed me to go visit the real place for the first time (I’ve driven quite close before but never stopped). By a quirk of fate the boys changed from electric to diesel traction within a few hundred metres of the station site! I took a few photos whilst I was there. The lines disappearing to Crewe. Heading north the lines go through the fairly short Christleton tunnel where the railway goes underneath the Shropshire Union Canal. At the other end of the tunnel, you can just see CR27 signal, which looks like a 2 aspect distant. I wish I’d investigated this more, as I could have had the exit tunnel based on this one. Just west of where the canal crosses the railway is Christleton lock. I think it was 5barVT that observed the canal here is a broad canal. It’s certainly a big lock! A little further north west and the railway heads under the A41. Pleasingly there’s a pipe on the bridge, just like the model. It then continues towards Chester under the A55. Christleton itself is a small and beautiful village. Sadly I didn’t have time for a pint, but it seems well equipped with pubs. The Christleton Institute also looks worth a visit. Finally there’s this little building. Possibly I can find a place for this on the model.

Meanwhile, and briefly back to MGR reversals, we see a pair of 20’s on a Fiddlers Ferry working awaiting the Crompton just departing on a Holyhead Cardiff service. Very interesting coaching stock on this route. As far as I can work out the services starting at Cardiff used Southern Region mk1s, often with a small NSE logo on blue grey coaches, and hauled by a 33. The workings from Holyhead used PV mk2s that originated from York or Heaton (Newcastle), even with TP liveried coaches on occasion. These seem to have been rock solid Crewe 47/4s.

004 is about to become a regular on the Oxford Road / Piccadilly to Christleton route. I will attempt to recreate the atmosphere for operators!

1986 is the Goldilocks year for the Coast. Transpennine livery, peaks, 25s, 33s, 20s everywhere.

To help you out (sort of), I took a photo of the updated Quail map that’s pasted to the wall in Christleton box. Note the line down to Wrexham from Chester is quite well hidden on the original drawing. I think Dee Marsh to Mickle Trafford was mothballed before 86, certainly the steel trains were diagrammed to pass through Chester, and hence now need to reverse at both Christleton and Croes Newydd. There’s a similar double reversal required for the Point of Ayr to Fiddler’s Ferry MGR - which means it’s more of a seesaw than a merry go round.

Just before 11am and a pair of 20’s thrash through Christleton West junction, having taken over 6M24 Mossend to Dee Marsh steel coils. Hot on the heels of the steel is a 25 rolling in to the through road with the Tue Brook to Penmaenmawr ballast empties. This should come in from Warrington, but has been diverted via Crewe (for fiddle yard reasons). It’s booked a crew change here. The ballast is allowed to run on to the coast if it’s on time, otherwise it will be held for the 1M10 Paddington to Llandudno. As the middle line is clear, the ballast must have been making good time. 1M10 is today in the hands of a class 108. No idea what this would have been, possibly a 117 or 120. I quite like the idea of a 120! It was loco hauled on a Saturday by an Old Oak 47, scheduled to swap to a Tyseley 47 at New Street. No-one even mentioned a 50, yet here we are pondering it.