mikeyh

Hi, I've just had a quick look at the drawing in my copy of British Rail Main Line Diesels (Stevens-Stratton & Carter,1978). Difficult to measure exactly, and no idea if the drawing is accurate anyway, but it shows about 2mm taper overall from behind the cab doors to the corners of the cab front. Hope that's some help? Mike

Picked up mine in Sainsbury's yesterday, bagged with a free copy of Traction magazine so seemed good value. Not sure if this is exclusive or available elsewhere?

I'm also aware that there are follows of this thread who are not averse to Manors and or cute panniers, so here's two for the price of one! 7828 Odney Manor and 6400 Class Pannier 6430 double head the 12.40 from Bishops Lydeard to Minehead at Dunster today. Mike

Hi, Apologies for the intrusion, but in view of the rather sad photos of 4920 shown earlier, I thought a photo of a rather better cared for, albeit modified, example might cheer things up? 6960 Raveningham Hall on the stops at Minehead this afternoon. Cheers, Mike

Hi, I always enjoy looking at updates on this layout so was good to see it for real today at Trainwest. Really great layout and stock and some amazing small details. Brilliant work! Mike

I was really looking forward to seeing this at Trainwest today and have to say i wasn't disappointed. The attention to detail in the landscape over such a large model is amazing. Likewise the railway stock and the military equipment all looked superb and the operation seemed excellent with a very regular flow of different and interesting trains. Brilliant work and thank you for showing it. Mike

Hi, Well, the Christmas holiday has flown by again with very few opportunities to get out to the shed. I have managed to do a small amount of modelling, including a first stab at a bit of weathering. With the arrival of the Bachmann Mk 2Fs I wanted to change the bogies on the BG and RMB which run with them to B4s to match and enable 100mph running. I'm not sure if Bachmann have done the BG or RMB with B4s but I've not seen them if they have? So I bought a couple of sets of spare bogies (36-037) assuming they would be a straight swap. Of course - nothing is that simple! The bogies do fit just by unscrewing the old one and re-fixing but the raised collar means they ride far too high. So a bit of surgery is required. The raised collar is removed using a razor saw. The top is then sanded flat and I managed to cut and drill some new mounts from plasticard, which seem to fix O.K. with Plastic Weld. Just re-fitting the bogies as they are seemed to leave the coaches a bit low when compared with the Mk2F and unaltered Mk 1s so I experimented with pads of plasticard to raise slightly. 30 thou. seems to be about right. The completed BG with the bogies painted, springs picked out in red and a bit of frame dirt and brake dust added. And the RMB - not got round to painting / weathering yet! I expect there are other (better or cheaper) ways of achieving this but it seems to work O.K and I think improves the overall look of the train. cheers, Mike

A couple more quick videos from last weekends testing. This time of 50 013 'Agincourt' heading an overnight sleeper/motorail service from Scotland (Sterling - Newton Abbot?) with the new Bachmann carflats bringing up the rear. Certainly nice models though unfortunately they make the train way too long for the platforms or loops! Cheers, Mike

Hi, As usual far too much normal life going on to allow much time in the shed this year. However, with major garden and decorating projects (almost) complete I did manage an hour last weekend to 'test' some recent arrivals. First up, an unidentified Class 50 speeds out of Wembdon Hill Tunnel and into Wemdon Road station on a Paddington bound express made up of new Mark 2F air-conditioned stock. A class 45 trundles past on the up through line with a mixed freight. Shortly afterwards the same trains were captured passing Wembdon East Junction. Early Mark 2 stock displaced by the arrival of the air-cons, has been stored on the branch line in the background. Cheers, Mike

It's a long time since I pre-ordered these items but I suspect I went with Hattons because they were the first to offer them for pre-order. I was hoping that by committing to an order it would help demonstrate to Bachmann that there was a demand for these products. I can understand Bachmann's wish to 'level the playing field' for smaller retailers but IF they are deliberately withholding supplies from Hattons for over a week that's surely going too far and would be a major breakdown in the relationship between Bachmann and their (presumably) biggest customer. I sort of prefer to think that, as my previous post, they do have the stock but are just really busy and have lots of orders to process. I don't really want to cancel my orders and go with another supplier - it feels a bit like changing checkouts in the supermarket or lanes in a traffic jam on the motorway which never ends well for me! I will e mail Hattons and see what if any response I get. Mike

Having had my pre-orders in for Blue/Grey TSOs and POTs with Hattons since 2014 it seems a little churlish to complain about a week or so delay in receiving these models, but it is slightly annoying that many people seem to have received their models a week ago. I wasn't aware of any Bachmann policy of favouring smaller retailers, but it seems to be just Hattons who haven't received their stock yet? Or maybe they have received stock but are just taking a long time to unpack and sort a large quantity of models and pre-orders? I will see if there is any progress in the first half of next week - if not I might look at an alternative supplier. Mike

The Peco branded static grass is made by WWS - at least it says so on the packets. Mike

Thanks for the information Paul. I seem to remember heated debates from trainspotting days in the 70s as to whether, if you saw a loco but couldn't get the number but someone later told you what it was, could you still count it as a cop? If I was still trainspotting I would take your information as a definite and it would go in the book! ' Not quite Kernow Today but a few more from last weeks trip. No need for expert inside knowledge to identify 57 605 'Totnes Castle' as it pauses at Hayle with the down sleeper on Thursday 6th September. And then accelerates away over Hayle viaduct on the last few miles of it's long journey. Shortly after an unidentified GWR liveried Class 43 leads the 07.41 Penzance to Paddington over Hayle viaduct. Another GWR liveried power car 43042 leaves Hayle station on the rear of the 07.55 departure to Paddington. Only one other GWR liveried carriage in the train. Another 15 minutes saw the arrival of the next down train. Unidentified (but who cares) Class 220 Voyager on the late running 06.28 Plymouth to Penzance. September 6th 2018. No more trains for a while so I took the opportunity to explore the Hayle Wharf branch. Just 36 years too late - not much to see now I'm afraid! But the swing bridge which took the branch across the Copperhouse Pool is still in good condition and would make an interesting model. Cheers, Mike

Just back from a few days break in (mostly) sunny Cornwall - managed to have a quick look at the local rail activity and grab a few snaps. HST with power car 43174 leading prepares to leave Penzance with the 16.00 to Paddington on Tuesday 4th September. 43137 Newton Abbot 150 on the rear. Strange to think the full length HSTs will soon be a thing of the past. A quick visit to Long Rock later in the afternoon with 08 410 basking in the sunshine. I hadn't seen this gleaming barrier coach? no. 6348 before. Unhelpfully the 57 for that night's sleeper service was still tucked away in the shed and with no number on the front no way of telling which one it was. Cheers, Mike

Couldn't see any other photos on here of the Bridgwater nuclear flask traffic so here's a few from earlier today. Direct Rail Services' 68 005 'Defiant' and 68 034 shunt a single FNA flask wagon in Bridgwater goods yard, before leaving (23 minutes early) with the 11.58 to Crewe Coal Sidings (DRS). I always think there's it's fascinating to see these 'state of the art' high speed locos creeping around in rusty and weed covered sidings! Cheers, Mike

Hi Bob, Just a quick thought. Does the wall alongside the siding need to be quite so close to the track? Maybe just the photo but clearance looks a bit tight perhaps? Mike

Hi Andy, I've been away for a week so a bit late I know, but just to say I'm really pleased you've decided to keep KM. Hope it gives you many more years of fulfilment and entertainment. Mike

Great to see this layout yesterday. As mentioned above, it is good to see something different to most other layouts - and my own model interests. I do like nice long trains as well. Thanks to all concerned. Mike

Thanks for your comments shed and ess1uk - much appreciated. I've never really been sure what the rail served industrial building at Chilton Trinity is or does. One possibility is the ubiquitous dairy so, as I managed an hour in the shed yesterday evening, I had a play with some milk tankers to see what they looked like and how the rail operation might work. The head shunt and sidings are quite short so, after a bit of experimentation, I settled for a train of just 3 tankers. 25 083 arrives at the station throat with 3 empty tanks from Wembdon Road. There are 3 loaded tanks in the 'dairy'. The loco uncouples and leaves the empty tanks in the platform and draws forward to run around. Before heading for the dairy headshunt. Collecting the loaded tanks. All six tanks now left in the middle of the station while the 'rat' goes to run round again. When I first tried I wasn't sure the exchange of tanks could be accomplished without the aid of the resident 08 shunter - mainly due to the positioning of the uncoupling ramps. However with a bit more playing the solution was fairly easy, involving the loco sandwiched between the loaded and empty tanks. 2 of the empty tanks in the dairy loading bay. With the empty tanks now in the sidings, 25 083 is ready to leave with the 3 fulls tanks which will be attached to the London bound train at Wembdon Road. And heads off back down the branch. After a couple of tries I was able to carry out the whole process completely hands free - no stalling or derailments and all uncoupling done with the ramps - which I was quite pleased with. Looks like a dairy might be the answer? Cheers, Mike

Thanks for your comment Dan - much appreciated. Nothing new to show in the last week i'm afraid - just had a few minutes to mess around with some black and white photos which hopefully give a bit of a 1970s/80s feel. Cheers, Mike

Hi, A few views of last weekends playing. Some track maintenance work brought an unusual visitor to the branch in the shape of 31 174. after dropping ballast further down the line the empty hoppers head to Chilton Trinity to run round. We can just about run round 3 hoppers and a Shark brake van in the loop. Before heading back down the branch. Cheers, Mike

Hi Andy, I made the trip to Cheltenham today at least partly on the basis that Blueball Summit was there. Have to say I was NOT disappointed. Seeing the layout as a whole, the overall composition, colouring, lighting and presentation all appear spot on. Although I have seen all the pictures on here, and I know how big (small) 2mm/N gauge models are, it's only when you see it 'in the flesh' that you can really appreciate just how tiny and yet perfect all the models, buildings and details are. I think I shook my head quite a bit in disbelief at how this level of quality is possible in this scale. I've just been taken back to a summer's day in the 1970s just watching the trains go by - brilliant!! Cheers, Mike

Hi, A few more photos with the completed section back in place. Class 121 'bubble car' leaves Chilton Trinity heading for Wembdon Road. I've also made a start on tidying up the garden of the tea room/shop in Station Road. Cheers, Mike

Hi, I've made little more progress to this area I wasn't happy with the bottom edge of the cutting - it came out too close to the track bed and encroached into the cess as you can see on the last to photos of the previous post - so I trimmed the edge back and made a low retaining wall made out of what I hope looks like sleepers. Support post were cut from 1.5mm Square boxwood. And stuck on to the sleepers. A wash of thinned sleeper grime added. Probably needs to go a bit darker still! Cheers, Mike

Hi Bob, All good advice from Lez, Andy and Grahame of course, but I've found you can get also pretty good results with static grass without needing to use an applicator. Just paint on your 50:50 PVA/water mix in the places you want your grass, sprinkle the static grass on - either by hand for small areas or you can use an ordinary sieve for larger patches - and then almost immediately vacuum over holding the nozzle a cm or so above the grass (with a piece of cloth across the end of the hose to catch the excess of course). The grass will stand on end very nicely and I've found stays like that pretty well 'till the glues dries. Worth a try before committing to buying an applicator, especially if you only have small areas to do at this stage. Hope this helps. Cheers, Mike