CoombeTown

Another two down, so one more to go. Hopefully this will be over the weekend so painting can begin next week.

That's a really nice end result Rob. Shows the benefit of putting your own spin on things, I'd never have guessed it was the kit had you not highlighted it.

The first door is now built, and fully posable. The 3D printed runner wheels have worked really well and lock onto the rail perfectly. First shows the complexity of the rear, although the opposite end door will have be even more complex with the low door. The door closed: And open:

I seem to have been far too busy to find any modelling time this month. But finally got the main gutters and 1 downpipe attached to the goodsshed. It's not perfectly straight but not far enough out for me try fixing it. Probably going to make the sliding doors next while I try and save some funds for landscaping materials... but 18000 is also arriving tomorrow.

I spoke to a volunteer whilst passing Minehead on Friday. The crossing will be handed back to the railway this Tuesday, this will allow the WSR to fully train its staff over the winter before reopening the full length next season.

Yup, that’s the way to Graham, I’ve got a photograph of the dock at Washford that proves it.

Indeed, the switch rails are live constantly with the modification, in theory making it a lot harder to stall any loco.

As Rob says, there are definitely ways of doing it without lifting the track. I think it's fine without making the modification as long as you leave the point springs in, but without them it definitely needs doing, and if you plan on moving the layout a lot, it's worthwhile. So you might get away without it on Chuffnel Regis @Graham T

Still haven't got around to those CVs, but like several others, the pointwork was up again today. I've now completed the classic peco point modification adding some additional bonding wires. No idea why I didn't do this the other week but it has vastly improved the running.

It's not picky at all, I was thinking exactly the same thing. I will have to do some further digging with the CV settings, currently one of the top headlights is on the momentary F2 as well which needs to changed.

Work is ongoing on the Goods Shed guttering, although I've realised that a few more parts will have to be ordered from Modelu in the coming weeks. After failing to find the correct decoder at the weekend, I ordered a Lokpilot 5 from Olivia's which arrived today and is now successfully running the Railcar.

Does your Aux actually need to be integrated to the controller though? I understand that may be a benefit of the Elite, however there are many splitter boards suitable for 12/15V that can be powered by a simple laptop supply.

Personally, I have abandoned my Hornby Elite for the Gaugemaster Prodigy Advance system. I prefer having the handheld controller for running my layout and the Prodigy allows use of the active brake functions provided on most sound chips. A caveat to this is that on F2 is momentary, and cannot be changed on the Prodigy, but I believe can be on other systems. As others have said, it is down to personal preference, there is much more than cost alone to consider.

New Kensal Green was by far my favourite layout there, the Castle scene is just a wonderful cameo and the layout oozes atmosphere. I'm glad that Sunday was reasonable levels of attendance and mask wearing. The lure of bargains seemed to cause chaos for the first few hours of Saturday, but the afternoon was rather pleasant.

I attach some pictures of the EP that was displayed at GETS yesterday. It's a nice model, reasonable weight but not too heavy, partly down to the steel wheelsets. Pleasing detail on the underframe and with kinematic couplers. Definitely going to be an order from me.

I have to agree with others posting above. Having held the actual model at GETS, there is a good weight to it, so should be some good haulage power. The level of detail into the casting is also fantastic, very excited to see this out on layouts. Here’s hoping for some of the Cornish allocation in Batch 2!

Turns out 5ft of cable and 2 connectors caused too much of a drop to move the PM4, so the PM1 was refitted. Which allowed the first full length passenger train to arrive on Coombe Town from the new fiddle yard! The Mogul also now has her crew fitted, which really makes a difference. And completely free of the hand of God, she is ready to depart again.

Wow, Rob that really does look impressive. As you say, it very much captures the feel of the open countryside.

Here is a diagram of the point control circuits, thanks to @slow8dirty I've realised that the only common point between all points is the CDU. In the most stupid move of all time, I'd got the 12V & 15V supplies the wrong way around... I have no idea why I hadn't checked this previously, so now the challenge is to understand why the new PM4 is not working! Either way, 75% closer to full operation, and it fixed the electromagnetic uncoupler!

Thanks Paul, much appreciated. Yes, currently they are Seep PM1s which seem to be moving freely on their own, so definitely an electrical issue. It could easily be dust in the connectors the van so I will take a look at that option as well. Cheers

Well, not a great few weeks for the layout. I've moved house and Coombe Town seems to have come off a little worse for wear. Not entirely sure what has happened, none of the point motors will move the points. They all worked fine when the layout was dismantled but despite sounding like they are moving, the blades aren't. In an attempt to fix this I have removed the point spring in the furthest point and replaced the motor with a SEEP PM4, now there is no life at all! I believe that the problem is with the dsub jumper cables between the control panel a the boards and across the boards, but think I need a break before I try dealing with that. Any ideas of how to troubleshoot/fix would be appreciated.

Wow, that station building looks a treat! Really does feel GWR. I'm not usually a fan of embossed tiles but those look quite good, which manufacturer are they from?

I've had a good think, but having converted the Airfix offering and fitted directional lighting I think it'll be a pass from me as well. Thanks for running all these polls Brian & Team, it has been a very engaging couple of months.

Looking very nice Graham! I've got some Modelu parts waiting for Coombe Town's Goods Shed, I have to say in the flesh they really are the bees-knees so definitely worthwhile doing.

For me it's got to be 6 & 8. This was the type that worked on the Minehead branch, coupled to an TK of some description, so I'd use one of the C43s for this purpose. That being said, realistically, if anyone released a new 'B' set, made to modern standards my wallet would be out in a flash. It definitely feels like a missed opportunity in the BLT market.