mikeyh

Hi. Managed to make a bit more progress on the Chilton Trinity station area and approach over the last week or so. The wall of the cut out area behind the engine shed had never been finished properly so looked like this. As this is part of a lift-out section which gives access to the tracks hidden beneath the village I thought it would be easier to work on it off the layout. I always strugged with somewhere safe to put the lift out section whilst cleaning the track or sorting out a derailment. We've all heard of the mythical 'sky hooks' - well I at least have shed roof hooks where the section can be hung out of the way. The screw in eye goes through the scenery and plywood and screws into a nut epoxied below the board. Looks a bit precarious but as long as the eyelet in the ceiling goes into a rafter it should be fine! Walling and support pillars added. A bit of grass, brambles and bushes added. I've also been experimenting with adding grass and brambles / bushes to the side of the cutting. I'm hoping to have a bit more time in the shed over the long weekend so hopefully can make a bit more progress in this area. Cheers, Mike

Hi, Just a couple of quick videos from 'testing' session last weekend. 47 035 pauses at Wembdon Road station with the late running sleeper service to Penzance. 37 238 trundles through Platform 1 with loaded ball clay hoods heading for Fowey docks. Station pilot 03 045 reverses a mixed bag of NPCCS back into the down sidings at Wembdon Road before pulling forward to await it's next duty. Cheers, Mike

Hi, As it was not really gardening weather yesterday, I managed to thaw out the shed and run a few trains. 31 174 heads west with empty ballast hoppers. Next to pass was 50 013 with down empty milk tanks heading back to Cornwall, seen crossing the canal. And a brief stop in the Platform 1 at Wembdon Road station. Before heading west into Wembdon Hill Tunnel . Cheers, Mike

Hi, New arrival, following a visit to the train fair in Exeter last weekend, is this little beauty - Bachmann 03 045. A long way from it's home (in Norwich I think) and also withdrawn in 1979 I will have to pluck up courage to renumber eventually. Although not really a south west based class, I think Bristol had a couple and possibly some at Plymouth much earlier and maybe even Bridgwater docks?. It is a lovely runner and will be useful as the Chilton Trinity shunter. It's arrival has forced me to address the issue of the dreaded Peco uncoupling ramps. As I am likely to be stuck with tension lock couplings for the foreseeable future (ever) I have many of these ramps and until now they have just been placed over the sleepers. I think probably because these were 'designed' in the code 100 era they sit a bit high for code 75 track (which has always caused a lot of unwanted uncoupling) and the 03 wouldn't go over them (this was also a bit of an issue with the Dapol Class 121). So I've experimented with cutting away the sleepers to enable the ramp to sit a bit lower. This makes them a bit low so 20 thou Plasticard shims were inserted underneath which seems to give a reasonable compromise between allowing locos to pass over, uncoupling most Bachmann wagons most of the time and reducing the amount of unwanted uncoupling. The 03 now passes over with no problems and the ramp seems to raise the hook enough to uncouple o.k. I will probably standardise on this arrangement and try to adjust couplings to suit where possible. Cheers, Mike

Thanks for your comment Dan. I agree the LED lighting does seem to be an improvement. The rest of the lights are ordinary fluorescent tubes but I may get round to changing them one day. Usual busy weekend doing other stuff but managed an odd hour on the layout and made a bit of progress on the platform fencing and the lineside fencing along Station Road. Not finished yet but starting to take shape. I'm struggling to get the wires tight enough to appear straight - will have another go next weekend. Shunting continues. Cheers, Mike

Hi, Just managed a couple of hours in the shed this weekend. Had a bit of a play and a bit more done at Chilton Trinity station. The shelves over the station side of the layout originally had some Ikea spotlights fitted underneath. These gave only patchy illumination and eventually stopped working anyway so I've just taken them down & fixed up a strip of 'daylight white' LEDs which seem to give better light. A new addition on a crew training run - still minus headcodes! 08 243 still shunting the factory siding. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Mike

Hi, A few more pictures of progress at the buffer stops end of Chilton Trinity station. Railings, steps and surface added to the loading dock. Closer view of the railings. These are made from the Ratio concrete posts with most of the holes filled in. View looking back towards the site of the signal box and the factory sidings. Not sure what the 33/1 is doing in there! I have only just started experimenting with static grass. I think I might be a convert. 33 117 rests at the buffers in the factory head shunt. The permanent way gang must be attending to a small job somewhere around the station. 08 243 arrives with a short trip freight. And shunting the factory siding. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Mike

Hi Keith, Thanks for your comment. The overall size of the shed is about 5.5m x 2.4m but with the framework and walls the internal space is down to about 5.3m x 2.2m. The main part of the layout is only about 4.2m due to the space taken up by the door opening area. When I was building it it looked huge but I now really wish I'd made it a bit longer and certainly wider - in particular the operating well is quite narrow. I'm hoping, time and funds permitting, to extend it a bit this summer and possibly arrange some storage tracks in a covered area outside the main shed. We will see! In the meantime a few more pictures of the branch terminus - I've been concentrating efforts here as it won't be affected by any future building work. Final bit of ballasting at the end of the platforms. Retaining walls in place behind the factory headshunt Cheers, Mike

Thanks for your comments and interest - it's good to hear from someone local and a former local who now couldn't be much further away! Although I've used names from the Bridgwater area I've never really intended to tie down the location to Bridgwater area or even Somerset - just somewhere in the South-West. I do have a rake of clay hoods which should really mean a location west of Newton Abbot - though of course there were clay pits at Chilton Trinity so, depending on how far I stretch reality, I suppose they could have lasted until the 1980s and sent some of their production for export by rail??! Here are a few more photos of progress at Chilton Trinity. Retaining walls to form a recese in the bank to house the yet to be built signal box. More ballasting in progress. I'm trying to use a darker and finer mix for the sidings than the running lines. A bit of greenery on the cutting sides. And now dried out I think it's beginning to look o k? 33 117 passes the factory sidings on a test run. Nearly up to date now. Thanks for looking. Cheers, Mike

Good morning and Happy New Year to everyone. Thanks for the comments and likes. With the first attempts at ballasting looking encouraging the next job was to complete the trackwork, including the factory siding and the foot crossing. The hillside then needed to be cut out to accommodate the siding and Metcalfe factory building. The area was then built up to track level with various thicknesses of card and a recess cut out to locate the factory building.. And some walls added. Cheers, Mike

Hi, Well the end of the year seems like a good time for a long overdue catch up. As usual, modelling time has been severely limited by the rest of life going on but I have managed to make a bit of progress on the BLT, Chiton Trinity. First job was to complete wiring the point motors - nothing much to show on the surface but it did necessitate building a 'temporary' control panel. To save space this slides underneath the layout on Ikea drawer runners. Attention then turned to a job I've been slightly dreading - painting the track & ballasting. As I will eventually have a lot to do I need to find a quick and cheap way of painting so I've experimented with Halfords grey primer aerosol followed by their Brown Camouflage Ultra Matt spray. This was then ballasted in the usual way, fixing with dilute PVA. Bit messy to start with! Starting to look not too bad? As there is no space here for separate goods shed, coal staithes or cattle dock the station will have a simple, multi-purpose goods loading dock. Few more days of holiday still, so will try to bring right up to date over the next few days. Cheers, Mike

Just checking. Mike

if anyone is around West Somerset over the next few days, the Readers Halt bookstall at Minehead station (always worth a look anyway) had a good selection of seemingly new Middleton Press books going cheap today. I paid £6.00 for 'Wenford Bridge to Fowey'. I don't think they had space to put out everything they had as they mentioned they had lots more 'out the back'. I wish I'd had more time (and money) to browse further.

Hi, My 2 arrived yesterday from Rails. Had a few minutes this evening to get them out and take a few snaps if of any interest? The FO appears to have 2+1 seat moulding which I assume is correct? And open 2+2 seating in the BSO. Coupled to Bachmann BSK. And a closer view - Bachmann on the left. The lettering and numbers seem smaller on the Hornby - don't know which is correct or I guess they both could be for different vehicles or different times? Just noticed the Bachmann on the left is off the rails. Both Hornby BSO and FO have the black end doors. Hornby also has a darker roof. And finally colour comparison with a Bachmann Peak. Overall I'm very pleased with them and would be quite happy to run in mixed rakes with Bachmann. Hope of some help. Mike

Thanks for taking the trouble to follow this up and reply Chris. Mike

I don't always buy Model Rail but made a point of getting this month's after seeing Exeter Junction advertised. Superb layout and great article but surely a bit of a waste of space printing the same photo on pages 6/7 and 22/23 - were there no other decent pictures available? West Coast - Southern Section also looks amazing - would love to know how many boxes of track are used! Overall very interesting and enjoyable issue. Mike

Always have a look at and enjoy your thread Robin. Great pictures this weekend as always. As you've been on Manors this weekend just wondered if anyone had noticed this? Hope of interest. http://cgibin.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?h=Snapshot&p=2017/09/180 Regards, Mike

http://cgibin.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?h=Snapshot&p=2017/09/180

No - the car boot sale was on Saturday. There was no boot sale on Sunday!

Hi, I go to Wells most years and I agree it's always an enjoyable show with some great layouts and traders. The location of the venue means that other members of the family are very happy to come along for a few hours of retail therapy and lunching whilst I visit the show so a win/win! I know it's easy for me to say, having been many times, but the car park direction signs seemed pretty clear and well located. I was caught out by the £3.00 parking charge yesterday though. It does say clearly on the Railwells website and in the first post of this topic (so not misinformation from the Railway Modeller) that car parking was free on the Sunday so I was surprised to find a chap on the gate collecting. I didn't query it at the time as I assumed I must have read the website incorrectly but I've checked since and it's quite clear. Clearly I'm not worried about the £3.00 but would be interesting to know how the confusion arose and I hope the money went to the Wells Railway Fraternity and not the owner of the field! Mike

Hi, Whilst 'testing' 'The Bristolian' train pack last week I inadvertently ended up with a sort of Western Region version of the cavalcade which took place on the East Coast Main Line near York last month. Four generations of top link WR motive power pose on the main line next to Wembdon Road loco shed. From left to right, unfortunately not in date order, are the first production HST set 253 001 with power car W43002 (still very much with us of course and re-painted back to this livery) leading, Class 52 Western No 1026 Western Centurion, King Class 6009 King Charles II and Class 50 no 50 037 Illustrious. I then spent a pointless but enjoyable half hour with the 4 trains circulating, trying to match their speeds so that they passed in front of the camera together. This was the best I managed! Cheers, Mike

Thanks Andy - I think I've got it now. I somehow thought it would be more complicated than that! Mike

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