ParkeNd

Update on the Heljan Class 14xx. The smallest Ruby 8 pin chip fitted easily but lights whilst working including changing from white to red and vice versa when direction changes cannot be turned off. Had to use Superglue on a pin point to re-attach the ladders under the drivers doors and Glue and Glaze to reattach one of the side windows found in the box. But it runs well and I think looks really good despite my criticism of the engineering.

Getting closer now to completing the insertion of DCC chips in the locos I purchased during the Summer 3 yrs and 2 yrs ago - 70% pre-owned and 30% new. The Heljan locos have put up the biggest fights against being commissioned. The inclusion of the factory fitted tiny detail pieces in the buffer beams fouls the couplings preventing the free swivelling of the bogies so have to cut off flush with the underside of the beam, there is always not quite enough room for the DCC chips, and the lack of proper axle bearings frustrates re-assembly on the panier tank engines. The latest "fight" is with the Heljan Class 14 Teddy Bear essential on any DFR inspired layout - it won't in fact take a standard Ruby 8 pin chip and still allow re-assembly so I've had to send for the smallest Ruby 8 pin. Although the latest Heljan locos look brilliant I'm not sure I would buy another one. Fortunately my only remaining temptation is a Bachmann 8750 pannier tank engine!! On the subject of backscenes, two tubes containing 20 ft of two different shots of "Just Trees" have arrived and I've decided to stick those with PVA glue to 6 x A1 Rowney Daler 1.4mm thick with the 33" length each cut in half down to 2 x 16.5" and then attach these to the walls.

I've just sent off for 20ft of Photographic 15" high back scene (used to be called Just Trees) so these should be the last photos against a bare wall. Since the last post the Class 21 has lost it's address twice so I've had to reprogramme it twice, and the Class 25/3 an tangle its buffers with some of the wagons, but no other running problems which is great since the trains run every day. I've sent for long NEM couplers in a bid to solve this. Just about to start painting some new line side fencing, and assemble the Nissen huts.

A brief update to the above. The Bachmann 25/3 is running beautifully as is the Heljan 24/1 through a quirk of fate. My Dapol 121 Bubblecar ground to a crawl even on maximum speed setting and I haven't been able to fix it - it's suffering from what appears to be an epidemic failure of this model related to gears not meshing and seems to related to the two power transmission shafts . Maybe I'll go back to it sometime but in the meantime I have removed it's 21 pin Imperium DCC chip and put it in the Heljan 24/1. So not a total loss. However I do want to run a single car DMU service along with the GWR Streamlined Railcar from the bay platform (one running up while the other runs down) so I'm considering buying a second GWR Streamliner. The Heljan by the way is stunningly detailed with all the tiny detail parts factory fitted. Update. I had to cut off the Heljan's tiny detail parts below the buffer beams on both ends because they caught on the NEM pockets and derailed the front bogies on my one 2nd radius curve which would have stopped it running on the Goods Line. Visually it's made no discernible difference to my 75 year old eyes.

It's fast becoming time to start work again on the layout. I have 5 more locos to convert to DCC of which three have sockets and 2 don't. I've sent to Kernow for a 21 pin chip for a pre-owned Bachmann 25/3 which has clearly never been out of the box, and when this is running I shall move on to a Heljan 24/1. Running has been impeccable, but as someone pointed out, the goods headhunt would have been better had it been a little longer - but there isn't space. Strangely, or perhaps some would say predictably, the best experiences have been with the two car Derby Lightweight and the Autocar setup - no need for loco swaps at the termini. Compared with the previous N Gauge layout relying on blade contact the modified points with polarity reversal have been a joy. Next scenery additions are more fencing, and some Nissan huts.

And the last ones for now.

And again - more photos.

Photos continued.

As promised here are some new photos of where the layout is at, attempting to make up for all the earlier photos being invisible because of some sort of website change. The layout is now U shaped with trains arriving at the station from the fiddle yard on the other side of the room - and departing back to the fiddle yard which represents "yonder" towards Parkend. I wanted the trains to enter the layout by passing some sort of notable structure - hence the road bridge. I am now developing the section than runs under the window - mostly forest, countryside, fencing, entry into the goods yard, and a small business doing some sort of reclamation work on oil drums from Nissen huts with their "product" collected from a dock by the Class 3.

Quite a lot more work done to the layout since last posting so since the Website seems to now have been destroyed by it's lack of pictures I'll take a few new ones of the overall layout and attempt to post them. See you soon.

Don't know if photos work yet on here, but this is where I've got to with the new part of the layout. Loads to do yet - probably another year's work.

The road bridge build continues - it's not the easiest thing I've built though. The middle support is now built, both sides of the plate girder are built, and this morning I started to assemble the bridge span using a balsa jig to keep the whole thing the right shape. I'm using what I hope is a realistic structure with I-Beams to support the roadway which will be sanded black 0.75mm styrene sheet. The 3rd photo just added shows the paper pattern I've made so I can get the road surface of the bridge deck to go right up to the plate girders. Taller 140mm trees have arrived, as has some better line side fencing so I can add the Noch mountain bikers to make some more of the second forested corner.

The last few feet of the layout extension will be a fiddle yard for now so a part equal to the length of the longest train the station can cope with (prairie plus two coaches) remains unballasted. I want the trains to enter the scenic part of the layout and then run through countryside to the station but by starting the journey at some notable feature. So I'm building a girder bridge under which all trains will pass and "emerge" out the other side. In a bid to make life easier I'm using Wills kits for the girders and the abutments. The girders part is straight forward enough but the picture on the kit showing two girder runs and claiming 320mm length had me fooled - I've had to order another girder kit because it should more honestly be advertised as 2 x 160mm. The abutments "kit" is more a collection of parts which you bend to your will to create the notion of a road arriving at the side of the tracks and emerging on the other side of the layout - all in 380mm of layout width. The first one took me ages to construct the notion of a truncated road for the abutment to melt into. I've used Daler Board and an infill of packaging foam which cut and glued beautifully to be my section of embankment. They still have to be painted and grassed but I hope these three photos show what I'm up to. There will be a brick pier in the middle to support the long span - I have Wills brick sheet to make this. Until these modules are trimmed and put in place I'm holding the last couple of feet of scenery groundwork.

I had forgotten how arduous ballasting and painting the sides of rails with Sleeper Grime is. But this is progress to date. The countryside through which the trains travel to arrive at the station is started using sanded balsa and grass matting (bushes and small trees to add), the cover over the DCC controllers at the front of the layout now has "lumpy" grass courtesy of sanded balsa pads under it (weeds to add), and the station now has a telephone box. Note the Lamp Hut hiding Point No1. The small prairie is shown at the new limit of travel - it takes 65 seconds at heritage railway speed to travel the full length of the layout. I don't know how that translates into OO Gauge Time but whatever it is I don't expect someone at the station would see it's approach or departure for longer. Heljan 1366 runs but can be subject to axles locking up due to lousy location and no real bearings - needs to be taken off the rails occasional and axles pressed in and out to free up.

Track now laid on cork on extension, and ballasting started although not in these pictures. I have four more tracks for trains "to come from, and go to". I've started scratch building a ruined colliery winding house to stand amongst the trees in the new corner. When more materials arrive I can fit the balsa countryside to run under the window - this will be covered in Gaugemaster GM21 matting and bushes from The Model Tree Shop. The order also has 14 more 100-120mm trees. I have also fitted chips to a Bachmann Class 03 shunter, and a Heljan Pannier tank. Both run very smoothly until the axles shift and the wheels lock up. As a video review showed neither have a definite way of aligning the axles - it's a case of just diddling with the screws to get the least bad setup. The chips were very easy to fit though. A few people and a platform sign added - kits arrive to build a bracket signal and a water crane. I have to say that I'm delighted that Peco have rethought their build strategy since I built both in N gauge - no longer have they reduced every nut and bolt to scale size to make it torture to build, but whole assemblies best moulded in one piece are now moulded in one piece. Heaven!! Photos - before new ballasting - from my phone only.

Thanks for the offer Phil but I already had some more on order that arrived yesterday. Back laying track today.

New track slowly appearing - trains run beautifully to the very end. Have run out of cork so little progress today other than pencilling in the 15" radius curves for the little goods locos. The trains are going to run between grassy banks under a canopy of Model Tree Shop trees passing a gate into a colliery before arriving at Speech End.

Rather than more boring words, here are two photos of progress of the extension of the running tracks. I haven't measured it but the distance trains can travel once more track is laid is comfortably more than doubled - but no more points being added - just running track. I think it should look quite neat too once more scenery is added - it will just be countryside with possibly some "country structure" in the extra corner - maybe a barn?

The framework to extend the L shape is constructed, varnished, and bolted into place and the top surface marked out and ready to cut before fixing in place and track laying. However, I have found that using 3rd and 2nd radius curves I can bring the two main lines down the other side of the room - and using 1st radius curves onto a 13' wide base board the two goods lines running short locos and wagons will also run down the other side of the room. So I'm making the layout U shaped which allows the fiddle yard to be on the wall opposite the current main layout area. The trains run so well that I want to see them run greater distances.

I've just received from Olivias Trains an immaculate pre-owned Bachmann Limited Edition slope tanked small Prairie 45XX in BR lined green with DCC decoder fitted by them. I already have a GWR green similar item without decoder but 'DCC Ready" I have found requires two coils to be removed from a PCB and four decoder leads to be soldered to 4 points on the PCB. An early concept of "Ready". I'm not ready for this level of bravery yet. The Olivias Trains model runs superbly. Now that I have 10 locos including a 2 car DMU running I can see that some more room would help. So I purchased a small quantity of timber this morning to extend the L shape the full width of the room. Gives me an extra 36 inches. Photos soon.

Over the past 5 days I've got another three locos running under DCC control - but it hasn't been easy. I've found out the hard way that retailers knowledge of which decoders fit which locos can't be relied on. The only solution for me is to take off the loco bodies and physically look at the blanking plugs and their dimensions - especially the dimensions. My Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 is a victim of that - trying to put the die cast body back on with the recommended decoder fitted cut through the motor wires. The decoder recommended is too big as discovered by a You Tube reviewer - but not found by me until it was too late. For two Heljan small locos with 6 pin direct sockets I've tracked down 2 x Gaugemaster DCC93 decoders which are on the way in the post. Worth knowing.

Today I started work on covering the DCC Controllers at the front of the layout. The plan is to construct a plywood cover over the units leaving a 30mm air gap over the heat sinks with the front curving to follow the curve of the track, with both front and rear open. I purchased an A2 piece of Daler board this morning and have made a pattern for the 9mm ply cover. I've carefully matched the front curve to clear the widest wagons, and "lived" with the pattern piece in place for a few hours to make sure I'm happy with the idea. Next I shall trace around the pattern onto my piece of ply and cut it out with my jig saw. Not sure if I will "scenic" the top surface or make it a control panel with track plan and point nos.

Can't really believe this myself. I have managed to get the Hornby Railroad Sentinel running. I found a dry soldered motor wire, and risk desoldering it. Then I went through the Instruction Sheet which essentially said "If you want to know anything ask your Dad". Finally the internet told me the original spare part number for the 4 pin controller and I risked buying one from Amazon along with some Kapton tape at an offer price. Fitted the decoder - the instruction sheet spouts incorrect rubbish about orange wires and pin 1 - and programmed it. Tested without refitting the body it would just move about 1/2" - but encouraging. Next step - there was no lube anywhere - bone dry - so fixed that with a pin head and Dapol lube. Finally, found that the front wheel spacing on the axle would let one wheel drop inside the rails - so fixed that with intrepidation. Then it ran - hesitantly at first but a bit of running in has improved it no end. So essentially it was just chucked together when new, no lube added, and lousy DCC fitting instructions. This feels like an achievement.

A couple of photos of progress to date.

During Christmas Eve I prepared to add newly purchased DCC chips to 4 steam locos - none were successful. There was insufficient room in the Andrew Barclay to fit even the smallest of chips (unless you left the body off) and the recommended chips for the small prairie, pannier tank, and Class 08 bought mint secondhand turn out to have no sockets after all. However the two car Derby Lightweight now runs beautifully, and the EFE J94 in LMR livery with its Bachmann improved motor and Next 18 socket behind its magnetic smokebox door is a triumph. I had one more try at getting the dead on arrival weathered Sentinel to come alive but without success. But 9 locos now run with 6 more to have chips fitted that I am confident about having unboxed them and checked physically for sockets. Of the 9 that run 2 diesels Class 42 and Class 21 need new couplings fitted before they can “carry passengers”.