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If you Google "Old Oak Common Turntable Photo" then there will appear numerous recent (i.e. post-Beeching) photos of the Cowans electric turntable that recently left Old Oak Common for Swanage. They provide the answer to my question above. A simple (even rather flimsy looking) steel frame extends across the center of the bridge with electric cables strung from two pylons each side of the well: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8020/7460991028_2b160693b2_z.jpg I think Legge Lane should have this. Note the operator's cabin. I imagine this is a recent addition after steam was discontinued but I have no photographic evidence to hand to say if this is true. But basically it is fair to say that such "amenities" were very rare on British Railways. EDIT - Here is a high resolution shot from Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/akfJ3f

Alan, I admire your tenacity and bravery to tackle such a small item to be soldered. I agree with the use of jigs to hold pieces together while soldering or gluing. I was recently using and old cork sanding block for that purpose though what I really wanted was some polystyrene packing material. Also, I am not sure if you did this or not, but soldering longer pieces of wire which are then trimmed off may help. In my case my fingers definitely need that kind of assistance!

I have just taken delivery of two 1980s era Hornby Clerestories. In good condition they have already received scale couplers but will need decent wheels and bearings, and some form of improved corridor connectors. These coaches were made in Margate and the quality of the printing, etc. is excellent. The length of the coaches may be considered a bit over the top for the branch line but my excuse/reason for including them is that the Stratford based Dukedog, 3207, will run a twice daily service between Shipston, Stratford and Birmingham, via the North Warwickshire Line. As a semi fast, the service would stop at Stratford (both stations), Henley, Earlswood and Shirley. A morning and evening commuter service, stabled overnight at Stratford. This has set me off thinking about designing a timetable for services to and from Shipston. Life has never been so busy. As an aside, my father, who never learned to drive, commuted from Earlswood to Birmingham from 1936 to 1956, so it would be fitting for me to inaugurate this service, albeit somewhat late in the day.

Looking at the Hurlford area on Railmap Online, it seems there are more miles of abandoned track in the area than one would have thought possible. In Warwickshire we are blessed with the wonderful site warwickshirerailways.com which forms the backbone for my research. Such a shame this resource is not available for other counties.

The prototype for the Peco Kit is the Cowans Sheldon 70ft preserved turntable at Yeovil Junction. The Yeovil turntable is Grade II listed: http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1392981 Photos of the Yeovil turntable do reveal a common ancestry but Peco simplified the design of their kit. Research into Cowans Sheldon turntables demonstrates a wide variation of detail with the same basic design being sold with manual, electric or vacuum drive. When it comes to painting, the Yeovil example is probably a good "go by". With regards to the electric drive, I am interested to know how the electric cable would be connected to the rotating bridge. One system would be to have connections near the hub of rotation, possibly as concentric wiper contacts. But flooding of the turntable well would be seen as a potential problem. This question is largely academic as examples of working electric drive turntables do not show any cabling - it must be hidden.

The plastic handrails provided by Peco have two problems. First they are overscale. Second, they are brittle and easily broken. But the stanchions are OK, so my simple solution is to use the stanchions but use 0.70mm wire for the railings. Here is a comparison: This OK for one side of the bridge, but the other side now has a small extension for the electric control panel. The control panel box has yet to be sourced, but it will have approximate dimensions of 4' x 2' x 1-1/2' (H x W x D). So some modification of the railing was necessary and this proved to be relatively easy to make: One point. In all the research photos I could find, working turntable railings were bent, twisted and generally bashed about. So I purposely made a few mistakes in drilling holes in the stanchions, etc. There are times when preservation and museum photos don't give the true picture. The control panel needs to be added (the operator looks a bit lost at the moment!) but I am waiting until Warley before committing to designing a custom job. Incidentally, a survey of all current working turntables in the UK showed tremendous variety, so there really isn't a standard design to follow.

A good initiation! I built several Keyser and Wills white metal kits back in the late 1960s and they are still around somewhere! By now you have achieved the honor of being "Fettler First Class". How are your finger tips?

Earlier this year I bought my third (!) Peco turntable kit. My earlier attempts at motorizing were slowly moving in the right directyion but the spindle on the bridge had been damaged along the way. So this weekend, while suffering from a bout of recurring bronchitis, I made No.3. So far everything is working well and the movement is smooth and relatively quiet. I think some additional lithium grease and maybe some soundproofing around the Meccano motor could lessen the noise but actually the sound is representative of an electric motor so the logic here is to assume that Legge Lane was one of the sheds that the LMS had installed an electric drive turntable. Given the design of the track plan this also makes sense as the turntable is used in place of switches/points to convey the locos through the valeting process. So here are some comments that could save other modelers from buying multiple Peco kits: 1. It goes without saying that Peco's instructions should be followed to the letter (but note exceptions below) 2. Make sure that the bridge wheels rotate easily; there is nothing worse than having three rotate and one not 3. When testing the rotation of the bridge DO NOT FORCE the mechanism; the spindle is quite brittle and can easily shear 4. Do not attach the motor and gears to the underside of the plastic well; it is too flexible and needs additional bracing which I could never get right 5. Instead, put the motor and gears on a separate plywood board underneath the turntable. 6. My experience is to forget the cheap motorizing kit that is available (the one with the red plastic gear) and go for the more expensive Meccano option. 6. Screw down everything tightly but test that the gears and bridge are not binding anywhere before finally tightening the grub screw on the Meccano gears. 7. If you use the plywood mounting board under the turntable you will not need the plastic retaining collar supplied by Peco (item 20); this means you can easily unmount the bridge when moving the layout - a very good option. 8. Only mount the handrails when everything works to your satisfaction 9. Once everything is working (I have assumed you have cut the required hole in the baseboard) then and only then lay the track. Peco supply only so many 75 and 100 code plastic adaptors but will send more if you request more. My turntable will next receive some detailing. I am currently working on the handrails, using the original posts but replacing the piping with 0.60mm wire. Very fiddly to do but I will show what I have done and how in a future post. There is no room for a control panel on the bridge, so I have made a small side platform which the customized railing will go around. I will need to make a suitable "box" to house the controls; so far my research for good photos of an LMS style electric control box have turned up a few blurs - most photographs have the loco hiding the control box which is no surprise. The photo shows the current status of the turntable:

As promised, Musée de Chemin de Fer, Nimes The museum is a shortish walk east from Nimes station and on the Sunday I visited it was empty, no staff, no other visitors. Nimes was a major railway center for many years - the PLM passed through Nimes on its way to Sete (the ongoing main line west was not built by PLM). Today it is an important station for passengers as well as providing useful relief sidings for the many freight trains that use the main line. As is typical SNCF practice these days the freight yards are empty and track is slowly being lifted. The branch to Ales runs to the north while a branch to the south terminates at Le Grau de Roi. The Ales branch now has a new flyover just east of the station. When the proposed LGV from east of Nimes to Perpignan is built Nimes will still be an important railway center for traditional passenger trains and all freight will continue to pass through. Back to the museum. There used to be two roundhouses and the one that houses the museum still has its roof. The other, to the north no longer has a roof over the entire shed and is used as a staging post for locomotives and single railcars. Here is a general view of the locomotive servicing yard: The two blue diesels (67215 and 67217) are almost always in the same place and are believed to be there for emergencies as well as night time maintenance on the LGV when the overhead power is cut, though there are plenty of Infra switchers also available for that. The museum has a certain "je ne sais quoi" atmosphere: Now for the locomotives: The turntable: Space around the locomotives is very limited and high level service staging precludes good photographic angles. I included the two shots of the turntable for any continental modelers out there.

There are some parts of France where one never pays to park. When I suggested I needed change for parking (in far away Montpellier) I got a very strange look from my favorite fruiterie owner!

Thank you for your comments and likes. I should add that the idea of a Dukedog on the fictitious branch upgrade is not related to the Bachmann model being available. I remember the last of the Bulldogs in Oswestry shed with much affection and have also had the privilege to "fire and drive" City of Truro, so an outside frame lightweight 4-4-0 is a good choice for me.

More research while I am away from home for the week and I have finally identified the best option for a Dukedog that might have served the Stratford-Shipston branch. I had previously decided on 3203 as there is a period photo of this loco at Tyseley on warwickshirerailways.com. But more Internet research using the GWR.org.uk site has done better. 3207 was first allocated to Tyseley's sub-shed Stratford upon Avon. Perfect. The next batch of Bachmann Dukedogs is due next year and I have pre-ordered one in GWR shirt button livery. I have also given some thought to how the GWR would have overcome the problem of running steam locos alongside the main road south of Stratford. It would have made sense to create a junction at Ettington station with the line then following the Fosse Way south towards Ilmington. A typical winding, follow the contours, branch line. None of this will be modeled but it is important to know that the would be's make some sense.

I visited today, for the first time, and am very impressed with the shop, the people and the stock. Good stock of three link couplings and lots of bits and pieces other shops never seem to have in stock. Plus, and this is my big complaint about many shops, they leave the locos in their boxes! I will not buy a loco for over £100 that has been taken out of its box and put in a glass case. All those add on bits inevitably get lost or broken, not to mention the loco itself can be damaged from too much handling. What else? Too many good things and tough to make purchasing decisions. I have signed up to their loyalty program and learned that international mail order is no problem.

I have since recoded the chip to 6235, 128 speed steps and so on. The change to 128 speed steps is phenomenal - it really makes a difference with those large drivers. On speed setting 1/128 the loco crawls beautifully - strange how as we get older the slower we can make our locos run the happier we are.

The pomodairo technique is interesting. When I was a manager with geophysicists who worked on seismic work stations I insisted that they took regular breaks to "look at infinity". It is not surprising that many of my work station oil explorationist colleagues needed to wear glasses. I first realized, in my 40s, that I had a problem when seismic sections on a computer gave me headaches. I have worn glasses ever since and now need bifocals. Seismic sections basically look like an aggregate of squiggly lines in black and white (color these days) that are worse than brick patterns in Illustrator. So you are doing the right thing in taking those breaks!

6235 is getting all the attention these days. I decided to look under the "bath tub" casing this afternoon and found that drilling out the rear chimney is not on. But it appeared that hard wiring a DCC chip would be straightforward. So that's what I did. Incidentally, if I had had a sound chip and speaker I am sure this would easily fit in the locomotive shell, right where it should be. Tenders don't chuff and whistle! The chassis is grounded to one side of the loco's pickup, but the good news is that the motor is already insulated and the motion is isolated from the chassis. I decided to photograph the relatively easy installation, which after testing for potential grounding problems took about 30 minutes. The first photo shows the as-is wiring for DC: The various components are shown. I cannibalized a TCS M1 decoder from another kit. Next I removed the capacitor and unsoldered the wiring. It was important at this stage to make sure the tender wires were not mixed up with the loco wires as that would create a short: Next I soldered the pickup wires (red and black to the decoder) and shrink wrapped the joins. I then soldered the motor wires (grey and orange to the decoder) and shrink wrapped the joins. I decided to mount the decoder in front of the worm gear, this is where a speaker enclosure should fit, in which case the decoder might go at the very front of the casing. The photo shows it inside shrink wrap but in the end I simply glued a piece of the rubber to the chassis and then mounted the chip with blue tack. It is useful to test the installation at this stage, before replacing the casing. As a new decoder, the loco started under loco setting 03 and worked very nicely, though the step up from 1 to 2 of 28 was quite abrupt, this no doubt due to the size of the driving wheels and Hornby's sales force's attitude to thrill small boys with high speeds around radius 2 curves! Altering the CVs will make for a much smoother operation.

Le Train Jaune - Villefranche le Conflet Villefranche marks the lower limit of the Yellow Train with direct connection to the standard gauge branch line that runs down to Perpignan. The station is shared by both gauges and trains are timed to provide a reasonable connection. Villefranche is essentially the beginning of a steep climb up the valley of the Tet river to the alpine meadows around Font Romeu and eventually Latour de Carol, where the line meets another standard gauge SNCF line which runs north to Toulouse (and south to Barcelona). The station is hemmed into a gorge with just enough space for the station and the workshops of the Yellow Train: At the upstream end of the station it is possible to see the contrast in gauges, the photo below shows the standard gauge headshunt to the right and the narrow gauge third rail line to Latour de Carol on the left: Some details of the Yellow Train trainsets, including the coupling system and the third rail pickup: A couple of snow plough wagons; SNCF strive to keep the line open year round but the timetable does indicate that there will be days (perhaps longer) when the service may be suspended. And a trainset departing from Villefranche:

Yes, very satisfying, particularly when it is inferred that only DCC compatible locos can be fitted with decoders!

I agree that Kadees are very effective and have added them to all my North American models, mostly No.5s but the Kadee range caters to all sorts of anomalies as well. But I have decided to take them off my British stock and go with three link/screw couplers as they really do look genuine even if they are a fiddle to work with. Some stock (from any of the major brands) can be a real pain to convert to 3 link, and most RTR locos don't have the space for the springing behind the buffer bar. The NEM pocket concept actually makes Kadees easier to install this side of the pond. All you have to do is work out the length of the unit versus your track radii. I have no idea how to do this!

A few extras added: The rear screw link coupling, one of the brass ones by Romford. It needs some painting to fit in: And a thin veneer of coal has been added. What a difference: Next we have to tackle the double chimney. This is what it looks like now: Black paint might be enough but I am tempted to drill out and ream the rear chimney before painting. Another project, now waiting on the mail, is to replace the Hornby name plates. So this is a "before" shot: The close up photos really do justice to the model's detailing. My few add ons are really just icing on the already iced cake!

Riding the Yellow Train (le Train Jaune) Here is a typical older style trainset used during the summer months, at Font Romeu. Open wagons are the better option during the summer, however, do take a hat and do take drinks with you: And on the descent from Font Romeu. This area is alpine with a broad flat plain bordered by mountains: Down the line the train enters a deep valley (where the two bridges are located, see the previous post): There are passing places, this one being on a steep section: The passing places have "sprung" switches so there is no need for a lever frame. The sign demands the driver to obtain permission by phone before proceeding. There is no token system. The next post will include a tour around the interchange station (standard to narrow gauge) at Villefranche le Conflet.

Yes, a good comment! Having a gas stove helps! Paul

Update Monday 20th October Over the weekend I tackled the rear screw link coupling upgrade. Not the easiest to do so I compromised by gluing the hook in place. With sprung buffers this should be a workable solution. Along the way I had a good look inside the tender and decided that I won't be adding a speaker there. The plastic coal issue remains a bit of a problem. I wish the structure of the coal 'bin' had been incorporated into the design, even complete with a representative coal pusher mechanism, but it hasn't and there is very little room for a veneer of real coal on top. And, just to really smarten things up I have ordered stainless steel nameplates from Fox. In this respect, some research I conducted a year or so ago when choosing the un-streamlined DJH Kit has come in useful. The maroon gold time span preceded the placement of the coat of arms which the loco carried throughout its BR days and into the Museum of Science and Industry. So no coat of arms!

Several years ago, one of the first locos I bought for this project was a very reasonably priced Bachmann "original" Royal Scot. I feel sure it was cheaper because, as I found out, it was not "DCC compatible". Actually, there is no such thing, "compatible" being a euphemism for "easy". I feel sure there is no OO gauge locomotive that cannot be modified to have DCC. But some might take a lot more modifying than others. The problem with the Bachmann Scot is that it is of the split chassis design. So the left side of the chassis feeds one terminal on the motor and the right side feeds the other: So the first thing to do is insulate the motor and the wires that will eventually feed the motor from the decoder (in this case a somewhat bulky TCS unit): With the chassis put back together, the leads from the pickup and the leads to the motor have been wired up to the harness. Note that if I were to do this again I would use a smaller decoder and hard wire it inside the boiler. Back then the decoder more or less had to be placed in the cab, as you will see: Of course, there are no lights so only four wires are needed. All in all a relatively easy project.

Just acquired a mint Hornby R2205 advertised on RMWeb Classified. Not exactly fit for purpose in a BR era engine shed, but I couldn't resist the streamlined maroon/gold version of my favorite loco. The loco runs well and now has the optional extras added. A few things probably need to be done: 1. That plastic coal! A thin veneer of my real French coal might just do the job - they were always fully coaled when leaving shed, particularly the 5A locos going to Perth. 2. The rear coupling by Hornby has been removed and now needs a screw link coupler added. 3. 6235 was the first Coronation Class to have an ex-works double chimney. These are shown in the photo above but the inside of the rear chimney is solid and painted maroon. The simple solution to this would be to paint the interior of the chimneys black, rather than drill out the casing. 4. Should I add DCC? I more or less have to as my controllers are DCC (I tested the loco with a 9v Duracell battery!). Should I go the whole hog and add sound? The set up is pre-DCC and I have modified a parallel boiler Scot (would you like to see the photos?) by Bachmann. It really isn't that difficult. Now I realize I should get some gold/maroon coaches, not that they would ever enter an engine shed. It looks as though I am going to have to start advertising my Southern Pacific HO stuff (1950s era). PM me if you happen to come across this last comment and want some mint or nearly mint beauties!