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I didn’t take any photos as I was too ashamed! I will do when it comes apart for modernising. I soldered extra wires to allow the microchip to fit in the seating bay, with the speaker currently standing in the vestibule. This is very much temporary. I think the solution for all my units is to mount the speaker in the underframe between the battery boxes or fuel tank, and cut the seats to have the chip below them, but keeping the seat backs.

Possibly the hardest sound unit I’ve fitted to date, an epic battle between man and plastic body clips. I’ll probably need to take the body off to smooth over the headcode boxes too, so I can look forward to it all over again! I want to do a little research on 105s first though. They are a class I know very little about and I was surprised that they made the late 80’s as I don’t remember them at all. As far as I can work out just a lone power car (DMCL) was allocated to the North West in 86, at Newton Heath. Most were based in East Anglia, but a few held on in Lincoln and even Ayr. A relatively quick search on Flickr shows that they ended up everywhere in the late 80’s, presumably being non-standard they were first to be loaned out should another depot come asking.

Momentarily the 304 project takes back stage due to another new arrival. Once I’d run through the timetable I knew that I could really do with 6 units to operate the services effectively. 1. Helsby shuttle - 101 2. Hooton shuttle - 108 3. Man Vic services - 108 4. Man Pic / Oxford Rd - 304 5. West Midlands services - 116/120? 6. North Wales Coast -? Obviously, AC traction aside, units will intermix on services. So I was looking for something plausible that’s also available ready to run. The Heljan 104 may or may not turn up this year (and even if it does north of £300 plus sound unit may make it less attractive than a 142). And then I found this. A handful were still operating in all over blue in the North West in 86, so a 105 fits well. Advertised as DC, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was a fairly well fitted DCC example, with chips in both cars. Here we see the ‘trailer’ car being moved onto shed ready for removal of the headcode box. The power car runs great, but I haven’t yet figured out how to fit the sound chip in the tiny space Bachmann allowed. There’s either going to be some angle grinding or some wire lengthening to make it work, but it seems like a nice little unit, and a twin rather than triple windscreen with all over blue livery is satisfyingly pleasing.

I’ll start off with the intention of perfect and slowly relax standards as I progress! But it will definitely have Gresley bogies. I think the power bogies were a slightly meatier Gresley bogie… I have managed to find some BR drawings (will share later) and am doing a rough parts list.

It all depends on how much I want to keep it. It will either be the basis of the 304, converted to a 116, or maybe a 128 parcels unit… Flush glazing isn’t currently available, which is probably good because I could get very distracted working on a unit that I don’t want!

With a definite feeling of storm clouds gathering and some rain in the air, a 47 lifts an early evening parcels service out towards Manchester. There’s a hint of wheel squeal as the driver eases the train through the pointwork, before opening the regulator wide and unleashing the power with a plume of smoke.

The class 304 has arrived… I’m not sure how much of the 117 I’ll actually use, possibly just the underframes as they are the right length. The roof sections are also probably worth using. I had completely forgotten about Lima flanges though. It sounds like a tank running over loose cobbles. I was thinking if nothing else it will be a handy 3 car unit to run until I have something better, but it will need new wheels and DCC fitting as a minimum.

A couple of views of the arch insert in place. Not quite as tricky a job as I expected, but not something I’m keen on repeating anytime soon. Which is unfortunate as there’s another one to do about 3 arches down! The pavements are just loosely placed on, and there’s some heavy lifting to be done disguising the various joins and imperfections.

A tiny step from two cab mouldings to stressing about the buffing plates touching! Clearly I won’t be able to split the set as the continuous air brake would need disconnecting. Once I’ve got those nano meter air pipes connected I don’t want to be messing with them. You’ll have to wait until I do a second set!

I have been focusing almost exclusively on scenery for the last year or so, with the aim of getting to the stage where I can put OHL and signals up. I’ve made good progress, but I think it’s time for a change of task for a while, so I’m going to have a look at some rolling stock. I’ll hopefully finish the viaduct inner arches, canal, embankment and Warrington scenic break before I do (it sounds so easy). Anyway… these have arrived. I got all over excited and also bought a cheap(ish) 3 car 117 and a Legomanbiffo sound unit. I was barely out of the starting blocks when I realised the 117 is the wrong body profile. Fortunately I can use the Replica mk1 suburban body sides instead, which also helps alleviate the issue of one foot wide Lima body sides. I will probably use the 117 as a temporary unit until the 304 is available (which lets be honest won’t be anytime soon). There’s another DMU on its way too. More of that later…

There has been much progress, but most of it involving excel and the timetable. It’s now pretty much in a place where I can print off a couple of working copies for a proper run through. The allocation of units remains somewhat unsatisfactory, in that I don’t yet have the ones I’d like (104, some sort of mash up and a 304) and I’d like to do a bit more fiddling with the fiddle yards. The latter is a lot simpler than the former. More of that to come… Elsewhere, I’ve started construction of the first inner arch. This follows a number of planing phases to put it off for a bit longer. I made up a frame of formers such that a piece of plastikard can be bent into the right profile. There’s a set of single strips glued with Mekpak to hold the shape. The vertically mounted sections gave the initial shape, but will need removing to fit the arch into place. On balance I think I’ll double up the strips as I think an odd number of layers will be less prone to deformation. The inside of the arch is quite pleasing - and it does fit nicely into it’s final position. I’ll also make the side walls 3 ply to keep them straight. My eldest son (9) was eager to be involved. He loved the construction, but thought it a waste of time as no-one would ever see it. I told him spending time on the things people don’t see will ensure they appreciate the things they do. At least if you get it right!

It seems odd that it takes so long to get there, you’d think printing it locally would be cheaper than shipping! Great that you have a copy, I imagine it’s a proud moment. The photos look great and it’s nice to be able to read a full length article on it. Now if you could just pop over with it to the Warley show, that would be excellent.

Movement 591 in the timetable, the 23:58 1M80 Scarborough to Holyhead service waits to leave Christleton. There’s just one move after this, the light engine will move off the blocks and make its way to shed. Amazingly, nearly all the right stock ends up in the right place, just a couple of DMU moves are needed to get everything ready for 00:01. Dress rehearsal over…

A few photos from tonight’s running session, really nice to have trains moving again, and getting quite close to completing the first pass through the timetable! First we see a 47/4 getting a liner moving out on the Warrington lines with a service for Trafford Park, whilst a 31 takes fuel. The other end of the layout is feeling a little neglected at the moment, I’m looking forward to getting on with the station in the not too distant future. 4D07, express parcels service from Wrexham, stands in platform 2, booked for a DPU with a trailing load. The GUV will be shunted off by the station pilot and will be added to a southbound parcels service later on. One of the interesting aspects of running the layout to a timetable is you see where locos and units end up standing for long periods of time, and thus where the track needs heavy weathering. A quick look in the other direction shows 3 locos on the electric stabling point for the first time. The 86 will need some subtle weathering. If I keep it as 86404, it had only just received intercity mainline livery sometime in the summer of 86. It would definitely have accumulated a few flies by now!

It's a good question. I've shared several iterations but looking at my own copies suggests I've never shared a current one, let alone one that's still available. It's drawn using Anyrail based on Peco track, so the layout is correct but the geometry and scale are definitely incorrect. The room is 5.1m x 2.7m. There's a crossover missing on the exit of the Warrington fiddle yards, but I think it's otherwise correct. Once I've worked through the timetable I'm planning a couple of fiddle yard alterations to better suit the operating plan, but nothing major. Having yards for each destination works well, although it's more to do with where the door to the room is than a result of good planning. The link from the Holyhead to Warrington yard makes it all work. There is a possible extension to the Crewe yards in the future, to allow 7 or 8 coach trains to be the norm, rather than 6. That requires some serious work to the entrance door though (it comes into the room at the present, I have planning permission for an alteration). As there's no sight of any Bachmann mk2fs in blue and grey, it's not really a priority!

All the boards are either on storage cupboards or open access underneath. The cupboards don’t have tops to them, so all the undersides are accessible. It depends what job you’re doing as to whether you need to empty the shelves and take the doors off etc. There’s still a lot of wiring required for signals, track circuits and lighting, although they’re all pre-planned and have various provision made. I’ve had hardly any failures that have needed access, but occasionally a point motor needs attention.

A good chunk of the viaduct’s structural work is now done. It’s had a coat of matt brick colour, which helps remove the gloss and the very orange colour of the plastikard. I’ve added some wall ties above each arch, which are quite a common feature on this kind of bridge. The next job is the tricky matter of two inner arches above the road and canal. I’m hopeful I can get a streetlight in the road bridge to illuminate the gloom. The road is missing in the above photo but has been added below. There was a lot of work involved to hide all the wiring - there’s a lot of points and track feeds in this section! Once the bridge liners are done I need to do some earthworks, steadily rising from the midpoint of the sleeper coach to the right. Meanwhile I have a couple of visitors due, so track and wheels have been cleaned ready for a few more hours of timetabled running.

It’s probably too late to tell you this, but buying shares in the manufacturers of plastikard brickwork this year would have been a sound investment! After what feels like hours and hours of endless cutting, gluing and fettling I finally have most of the core bridge structure in place, including top walls front and back. The next stage is to line the two portals that are open, one road and one canal. The canal one needs the towpath adding too. Then it’s lots of details, adding a concrete ledge between arches and top wall, various raised brickwork and some wall ties if I can work out how to make some. There’s a massive list to follow on from that, but I don’t like to think too fat ahead!

Do you ever come up for air? Your progress is relentless!

If you come here for serious modelling content then this is not the night! If on the other hand you look in because Beadle’s not on the telly anymore and you’re wondering how Heath Robinson might have tackled building some retaining arches, then grab a pew and pull up a brew*. As the arches have developed, so has the realisation that I should have put more thought into this. The first section is ‘finished’ with a top wall, double sided to stop 4mm scale workers from plunging into the tool cupboard. It became clear quite quickly that this wall, at scale 2” thick, was far too flimsy. Even modern house builders would have thought twice. I also realised that where the viaduct crosses the canal, it needs to have a back on it. And it’s a curved viaduct: so the arches aren’t going to be straight. My inner engineer is laughing at me. First job then, was the fairly tedious cutting out of two more sections of the SE Finecast arch sections. These are great mouldings, but anyone who enjoys cutting them out needs help. Then I added some hardboard on the rear side of the viaduct, including a hole for the canal to pass through. This was followed by cutting some 3mm hardboard into 20mm high strips to form the structure for the top wall. This has to curve smoothly along the not quite as smooth as I’d like baseboard front. A combination of glue, weights (screw boxes) and clamps are needed to hold it all in place. This does mean there’s a delay to the Holyhead service… *roughly speaking.

The evening section of the timetable may be getting addictive! 2K60 waits time in platform one, having run in as 5K60 from White Lane sidings. There are a lot of multiple units in the 1980s! I think the units in 3 and 4 are for Helsby and Shrewsbury. Making the third service to Crewe in half an hour is fan favourite 1K38, Llandudno to Stoke, hauled by D200. This was a frequent turn for the 40 in 86 and 87. Presumably the turns it did were a factor of the dwindling number of drivers with traction and route knowledge. Things are about to get very intense for loco hauled services, but first another unit on 2J30 to Manchester Piccadilly. This could definitely be a 304 turn in the future. For now a 108 makes do trundling over the steadily expanding viaduct, and onto the embankment. This is a new viewpoint that the viaduct progress has opened up.

Getting a little chilly in the late Autumn on the end of platform 4, as the 18.50 service to Crewe rolls in on the Up Holyhead line. This is 33 hauled (diagram 33.004) 1K34 from Llandudno to Crewe. A class 101 unit is making its way to the fuelling road, having worked in from Manchester Piccadilly. It has 20 minutes to top up before shuffling across to platform 1 to make up the 2K60 to Crewe. I doubt many will turn down the Crompton for it!

Really looking forward to seeing this put together and on the layout. Such a labour of love! Is the station building still there? I think I’ve only been there twice and both times I was under the influence (there’s a brewery there…).

Video definitely looks great and the lighting looks fine to me! I’d be over the moon with something that looked half that good.

The early evening sees quite a few loco hauled expresses through Christleton, amongst millions of multiple unit moves. First we see 1M86, the late afternoon Cardiff to Holyhead service. This sees the return of the trans-pennine stock used for the reverse working earlier in the day. You can find a few photos of trans-pennine liveried coaches out of location for this reason. It was also hauled by D200 for a week in 1987 (watch this space). Nothing so exciting today though, a large logo 47 heads for the coast with a mundane rake of blue and grey mk2s, top and tailed by a mk1 at each end (TSO and BG). Then we see a class 86 coming off the 1D64 Euston Holyhead. This was booked an 86/2 before handing over to a 47/4. Some research shows that this was often worked by a roarer, but today is a standard 86. The fiddle yard destination of this set is important, it needs to be on a through road for the sleeper and an extra BG to be added for the next Northbound - only the through roads are long enough!