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legomanbiffo

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  1. legomanbiffo

    Night train

    By legomanbiffo,

    A message, in a faded envelope....
     
    No, not that Night Train (by Visage)! A night-time recording session, more of which later. It's been ages since the last update so there’s a lot to report.
     
    The start of a very busy week in February saw me at Gresty Bridge for the first of two trips to record one of DRS’s Vossloh Class 68’s on behalf of Dapol. I was mightily impressed with this loco from both a sound and technical point of view. A full set of sounds were captured, including a static engine run. A return visit in June involved a very early start to attach mics onto the loco prior to hauling the Crewe-Mountsorrel (empty) and loaded return journey. These engine recordings, made with 1300 tons on the drawbar sound superb in the test bed loco! The run took place on the Friday of the DEMU weekend, and if you took a photo of the return working passing through Burton that afternoon you may be able to see Andy Forty and I in the cab.
     
    Just days after the 68 session at Crewe, on the Thursday prior to Model Rail Scotland we were at Shields Road to tick off the next-oldest Scottish EMU on my to-do list, the Class 318 with the assistance of First Scotrail. Having done the 303 and 314 previously, next year’s target, already being lined up, will be the 334 Juniper.
     
     
    This year's journeys to and from Model Rail Scotland were typically cloudy, wet & dull and not much use for photography, but we did scope some great locations and followed them up on the Perth trip. A notable faux pas on the way to one location saw us nearly get Richard’s shiny Jaguar stuck down a badly rutted farm track, just as it started snowing. A very lucky escape and a lesson learned.
     
    March saw Richard Armstrong and I at Wembley Depot as guests of Chiltern, who came good with their promise to give access to a 67 before they went off lease. I’ve made several attempts at capturing good engine sounds from a 67 without the intrusive spirax valves but none have been completely successful. This time the fitters knew exactly what to do and killed them for the duration, and I’m much happier with the results. I’ll be updating the 67 with these and various other new sounds as soon as possible.
     
    My first recording visit to the Gloucestershire & Warwickshire railway was a very pleasureable affair featuring 26043 at the front. I’m pleased to say that the engine on this one didn’t hunt like the previous one and the recordings are much more usable. I will probably take the opportunity to do a complete new version of the 26 to complement my existing one, to give some variation to the fleet of anyone who has more than one. Given my current workload this should be available sometime in 2018...
     
    As you probably know by now I was asked by Jason of Rapido if I could do the sounds for the APT-E, which I agreed to. I was fortunate enough to have the assistance of Kit Spackman (aka ‘Mr Tilt’), who travelled and worked on said machine and knows the sounds very well, and Paul Ledley who is one of the preservation team at Shildon with a number of useful video and audio recordings. The result is quite different to your average sound chip and was both challenging and enjoyable to do. One feature I included for historical interest is a seamlessly blended montage of all the good bits from an on-board recording of the intercom channel on the record-breaking 143.2mph run.
     
    The train had no less than 10 gas turbines which were started up in a pseudo-random sequence depending upon the driver. The chip will allow those who want to reproduce this to do so (with multiple starts all happening in parallel, or one at a time), but will also allow you to ‘start-up & drive off’ in the normal way by pressing F1 if you don’t want to faff about.
     
     
    Doncaster show was notable for the superb meal of fish & chips at the Whitby restaurant opposite the racecourse, and great photos at Clay Cross North and South on the way up.
     
    During the summer, I had the pleasure of Andrew Keast’s company for a couple of days (Andrew is the tallest one of the Kernow team!). One day was spent on a photographic tour of the local railway hotspots, and the second was spent recording Andrew’s dulcet tones for the announcements on the Cornish FGW 143 chip! My original version of the 143 with First Great Western announcements features the voice of a good friend of mine Paul Woolard, who’s photos you may have seen in the railway press. As well as a great eye for a photo, Paul has a lovely rounded West Country accent!
     
    Peter Lord (of Lord and Butler) has kindly agreed to voice the Arriva Trains Wales announcements in his wonderfully evocative tones, and there will also be a Lancastrian version of the Northern Rail chips featuring announcements by Mick Bryan! Who do we think has the voice for the Yorkshire Northern Rail?
     
    September brought an unusual overnight recording session at Longsight with Ben Ando, doing the Pendolino. The session took place during the luckiest weather window ever with Manchester living up to its reputation immediately before and after. We arrived at the depot at 2030 and were walking back to the car around 0300. I finally got to bed at 0630 in the morning. I’ve been after the Pendolino for some time so I was pleased to finally get one in the bag. The Hornby test-bed is currently rattling round my test track now and is starting to sound really good.
     
     
    The most recent recording session was at the Spa Valley again, doing the visiting Classes 14 & 25 with Richard Armstrong. In contrast to Manchester the weather at this venue was once again absolutely glorious. You have to pinch yourself to believe how lucky you are to spend days like that running through beautiful countryside with the train and the entire line at your disposal. It’s tough work but someone has to do it. Richard’s videographer pal Jordi was on hand to capture proceedings so expect another video in the fullness of time.
     
    Previous hard work at the Spa Valley has borne fruit as Kernow have decided to use my sounds in the latest batch of their superb Thumper. Anyone with a v4 chip with the old sounds on can benefit from a reblow if they drop me a PM or email. I fitted smoked acetate behind all of the windows in mine, which hides two Alan Butcher bass reflex speakers!
     
    My Hymek project has had a very long gestation period (it’s been almost a year since it was recorded at the East Lancs Railway!), but has finally come to fruition. Needless to say that it features all the usual bells and whistles including different departure sequences, but also the ability to depart at idle even on a heavy train, which I’m reliably informed that the real ones can do. ‘Available now’ as they say. The model has room in the tanks for a 23mm round speaker which sounds pretty good, and fitting is relatively straightforward. Video to follow shortly.
     
    Following the generous provision of an accurate recording by a customer, RETB sounds have now been added to all projects associated with the West Highland line (37/0 & 37/4 West Highland, 67, 156).
     
    Although there’s no RTR model yet, anyone who’s built their own Hastings Unit can now buy a chip for it from us. The English Electric engine is very reminiscent of a Class 20, and those SR whistles and compressors sound great!
     
    Finally, my Ruston 37/9 has now broken cover and is available from Charlie as usual. Following an enquiry from a customer and a bit of experimentation on my part, the chip now features the ability to recreate the‘flaming exhausts’ that the prototype is well known for. All you have to do is drill out your exhaust port and fit one or two LED’s underneath (I used a red one driven from Aux1 and an orange one from Aux2). The result is highly effective, with both gentle and heavy flaming that only occurs at appropriate times (eg startup & heavy acceleration), and in time with the engine beats. Videos to follow shortly.
  2. legomanbiffo
    Well that’s the misery of Christmas over for another year! I actually quite enjoy Christmas itself but two things spoil it for me;
     
    The ridiculous three-month build up, the over-commercialisation of everything, and everyone being on holiday at the same time and clogging up the shops / roads / Post Office etc.
     
    The three things that spoil Christmas for me...
     
    And there’s having your railway time compromised because you have to spend time with family.
     
    Amongst the things that spoil Christmas for me...
     
    Well here’s my idea for addressing these issues; stagger Christmas alphabetically. All families with surnames beginning with A or B would have Christmas on 25th January, C & D on 25th February and so on. Every year it cycles forward one month so we all get a shot at a spring / summer / autumn / winter Christmas. You read it here first!
     
    Anyway, on to business...
     
    One of the most enjoyable recording sessions of the year was with Richard Armstrong at the Spa Valley Railway back in August. The weather was absolutely superb and the Kent countryside magical. Add in the Thumper and 26038 and what more could you want? (drink! girls! etc). The Thumper was excellent; lovely rolling idle, honking horns, great turbo whistle and so on. The 26 presented a problem as far as DCC sound goes; there was an issue with the engine governor that meant the revs at any given notch were not steady and hunted up and down. This will make it difficult if not impossible to use the sounds. I’ve yet to fully assess them but fortunately my existing engine sounds are fine. The horns and all the other auxiliaries will come in handy though. It just goes to show how considerable time and expense can come to nought – something the chip buying public doesn’t always appreciate. The photo shows yours truly tieing one of the mics on at the start of the day.
     
    You can see more of what we got up to here;
     

     
    October saw another trip oop-North with Richard again, at the East Lancs to record 40145 & the Hymek. I’ve yet to make a start on the Hymek but the 40 has provided the exhauster sounds the project was previously missing. In the fullness of time I’ll process the 40’s engine sounds to provide an alternative to the existing project (recorded from 40135, also at the ELR).
     
    The final recording session on 2014 was a significant departure from the norm; my first full main line recording. I previously made recordings of a 350 from the cab window with the help of London Midland, in order to capture the tone change that you hear at around 25mph, but this was something much more advanced; at the invitation of Hastings Diesels Limited, Charlie and I travelled on board the Christmas trip of said unit from Hasting to Kensington Olympia and back.
     
    Needless to say you cannot cable-tie a mic to the handrail or out of the window here. Quite some time was spent working out how we were going to put a mic near the exhaust in a safe and indeed fail-safe manner. The extremely remote possibility that you might somehow cause the trip to be delayed or cancelled if something went wrong certainly focusses the mind. I’m pleased to say that everything went exactly to plan and we got the recordings we wanted. There’s no video yet, but the chip itself is ready for those wishing to partake.
     
    One happy consequence of the Hastings trip was that I now have recordings of an authentic Southern Region whistle (two actually), so this feature has now been added to the Thumper and the generic SR EMU project that I did for Charlie (but don’t admit to). Answers on a postcard - what else carried them?
     
     
    One amusing anecdote from the trip was the ‘tourist information’ given by the ageing Italian waiter at breakfast, who offered to tell us where we could get ‘cheap sex’ in the town and get the hotel porter to turn a blind eye! Perhaps Charlie and I fitted the profile... (Before you ask, we didn’t!)
     
     
    In other news the 37/4 has recently been upgraded with the addition of RETB token exchange sounds. These are set to a level as if heard through an open cab window, so they are subtle but clearly audible. You can repeatedly request the token, and ‘grant’ it when you are ready. This feature will be added to the 67, 156 and other classes that have worked on the West Highland & Cambrian lines as time permits (suggestions on a postcard please).
     
     
    The Scottish theme continues with the addition of user-configurable Scotrail on-board announcements (to the 156 initially);
    Welcome aboard this First Scotrail service to <destination>, please familiarise yourself etc, where the <destination> can be chosen from a list of 17 different ones by changing a single CV. Destinations include all the popular terminii and larger stations served by DMU’s in Scotland (Aberdeen, Ayr, Dundee, East Kilbride etc). This feature will be added to the 150 and 158 as time permits.
     
    A similar feature with all the popular Scotrail EMU destinations is also in preparation (Ardrossan, Ayr, Balloch etc), to be applied to the 303 & 320 chips, and similarly configurable Welsh announcements are in preparation for the Arriva Trains Wales 143 (thanks driver for those – you know who you are).
     
     
    Work is continuing on the Ruston 37/9 engine sounds which are approximately half-finished and sounding very good chugging round the layout. Time is currently being spent between this and bringing the long-lost sounds of a train back from the dead...
     
     
    Latest attraction on Charlie’s stand is the mighty Heljan 40 with sound to match. The model has a large void in the centre of the casting which I’ve used as the speaker enclosure, closed off with a thick plasticard lid at the top and a single large speaker facing down at the bottom. Whistle while you work.
     
    See you all at Stafford , Donny and Glasgow! If things go to plan I’ll be recording again while we’re in Scotland...
  3. legomanbiffo
    With several months passing since the last entry there's a fair bit to report.
    To begin with, what a brilliant summer we've been having for photography. After seeing some superb examples with incredible resolution in Rail Express last month I decided I had to upgrade to a D800 and up my game. Initial results were slightly disappointing (we're talking relative here, disappointing vs those Rail Express photos I'd set as a personal benchmark) but as with most things, application brought progress. This was aided in part by the loan of a series of books by Scott Kelby from Tim Rogers. After a bit of experimentation I'm now getting results I'm much happier with. Don't look too closely at this one though, it's a very low res copy of a failed experiment but I just love the colours.
    The trip up to Perth gave a great opportunity to try out this new toy. Stops were made at Greenholme, Greenhillstairs and Crawford Village on the way up and Crawford Bridge and Docker on the way back. Upon arrival at Docker I was incensed to find that the farmer has planted a line of non-native, fast-growing trees to obscure the classic view, clearly an attempt to stop photographers getting under his feet. Shame on you Sir. Fortunately there's still a good shot from the bridge so I will make a point of going back there every year just to annoy him. Perth was well worth the trip and one we will be repeating next year for sure. So much more pleasurable than freezing your bits off taking photos on the way to the SECC. AMRSS take note.
    The Caledonian Sleeper has been the target of several early starts, particularly given that this may be its last year with 90's on the front. I have to get up at 0545 and wear waterproof trousers as the favourite field is heavily soaked in dew at that time of day. Lovely pictures though. I was also fortunate enough to catch the Loram rail grinder which followed the sleeper one morning.
    30-odd years ago I could often be found at Nuneaton station and / or behind a Class 86 on the main line. I also used to listen to Les Ross on Radio Birmingham and then BRMB (you know where this is leading don't you. Well, not quite where you think, but bear with me). If you'd told me 30 years ago I would one day ride in an 86 owned by Les Ross from Nuneaton to Crewe I would never have believed you but that is precisely what happened. I've been pestering Les to record his loco for a little while and after a possibility fell through recently he offered me the cab ride. And very enjoyable it was too, a great opportunity to hear the rheostatic braking and neutral section first hand, and speak with the on-board fitter from Willesden. Many thanks guys.
    Anyway, what was it this blog is supposed to be about....? Oh yes. After several months hiatus, two recording sessions came along in quick succession; D1062 Western Courier at the Severn Valley Railway and D123 (Class 45) at the Great Central Railway. Many thanks to everyone for their help on the day. Both were really sweaty affairs in near 30 degree heat. In each case it was possible to attach mics very close to the exhausts to cut out unwanted sounds. With the Western I used two mics, one on either side. I’ve run with one mix but may do another version in future with an alternative mix for a bit of variety. A double-take was made as we passed a field in the Western and saw Elephant and Rhino wandering by; the adjacent West Midlands Safari Park of course. Although I don't like the look of the Westerns (alright, alright, stop throwing things), the sound is excellent. Initial prototyping took place with a Dapol model with it's integral bass reflex speaker in the body. Nice. Then Charlie sent down a Heljan one which has vast amounts of space in the underframe, duly converted to a big speaker enclosure. Even better. This afternoon I played it through a 7mm test bed (Visaton 60x60 speaker in a sealed box). Wow. The first production version is available from a Yorkshire retailer near you now.
     
    For the first time in ages my pal Richard and I went to a model railway show as paying customers; the new marquee-based one at the GCR. Highlights for me were the superb Roundtrees Sidings and the ride behind Gordon Highlander. Now where's my mic...
    Stopping off at the Co-Op on the way home after recording D123 I could hear something highly unusual approaching (the car park is next to the WCML). Whizzing past on the slow line went the Hasting Unit which I subsequently learned was on the way back from Crewe on a railtour. One of the most unusual things I've ever seen through Atherstone, and what a great sound! Where's my mic (again)...
    This week, having rekindled some lost enthusiasm with the Western I have kept up the momentum and made a start on the Class 37 recordings made from 37175 at Bo’ness. I’ve put a ‘teaser’ video of progress so far on You Tube today. I really like the sound of this loco, thanks to Stuart and the guys up there for their assistance. On the subject of 37’s I’ve been given a set of Ruston 37/9 recordings which appear to be suitable for the purpose so once the Bo’ness chip is completed I’ll have a proper look at them...
    Still on the subject, one of my 37's is presently away being fitted with the right coloured head lights. Why Bachmann are still bringing out models with sodium yellow headlights is beyond me.
    Finally, after some delay the first production run of my replacement tanks for the Class 26, 27 & 33 are now at the (3D) printers. I've made several minor design changes from the initial test run. Now 3D printed in black, suitable for 4, 8 or 100ohm 20x40 speakers and hence usable with pretty much any sound chips, not just ESU. A straight replacement for the centre-section of the Heljan underframe, to which the sides clip on and the speaker clips in. Supplied with full instructions.
  4. legomanbiffo
    One theme of this period in the sound lab has been consolidation; instead of working on new projects I’ve concentrated on rolling out specific improvements across the range, where suitable recordings are available. One example of this is to change F5 from a simplistic brake dump sound to a multi-function brake sound experience! If you press F5 whilst stationary you’ll hear a brake dump sound . If you turn on F5 when moving, nothing is heard initially, but you now have a ‘playable’ brake application function. Dipping the throttle briefly will trigger a gentle brake application sound. Dip it further and it brakes a little harder. It is possible (for example) to approach a signal, repeatedly ‘touching the brakes’ without unduly affecting the speed of the loco.
     
    The theme of consolidation reminded me of the classic Norman Wisdom film ‘The Early Bird’ which documents the struggle of an underdog horse & cart milk firm against the mighty Consolidated Dairies with their new-fangled electric milk floats. The opening 15 minutes or so, in which hardly a word is spoken, is comic genius, with the hero Pitkin (Wisdom) struggling to get up and make the tea for himself, his boss (Mr Grimsdale) and the boss’s ‘fancy woman’. There's a link at the bottom if you’re interested.
     
    Work on 10000 has continued. I am currently prototyping the engine sounds in a Bachmann model and things are progressing, slowly but surely.
    A packed show schedule in May / June will see me with Charlie at Bristol, Derby, LYDCC (where I’ll be assisting Tony Molyneux with his seminar), Railex, DEMU, Wigan, and Perth, and also Nottingham as a visitor.
     
    The first production runs of resin tanks for the Heljan 26, 27 & 33 have been kicked off. These comprise a replacement centre-section for the underframe assembly of each loco, to which the Heljan sideframes are attached. The new sections feature a sound chamber which accepts a 20x40mm speaker in a simple clip-fit aperture, making the fitting of sound much more straightforward.
     
    At Ally Pally I picked up some excellent weathered JNA’s from Lord & Butler which will no doubt feature in a video in the fullness of time. I must get round to doing more videos at some point as there are several new projects that haven’t been captured yet (33, 40, 60 & MPV amongst others).
     
    Finally, a couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of a personal guided tour of some of Paul Woolard’s local photographic haunts to capture some of the Cross-Country workings that were being diverted via Chepstow. Pictured above at Purton is the Daventry-Wentloog working. Paul has taken some beautiful railway photos and one of his taken previously at Purton featured in Rail Express this month. Hopefully some of his skill will rub off on me.
     

  5. legomanbiffo
    Late February means it’s time for our annual pilgrimage to the frozen North and Model Rail Scotland. This year’s trip started a day early on the Wednesday, for reasons that will become apparent shortly. First stop was to stoke up at the Little Chef just off Jcn 16 on the M6 (Crewe), our usual breakfast stop for this trip.
    Several en-route photo opportunities had been discussed but in the end we went to a favourite from last year; Docker, on the WCML in Cumbria. Upon arrival, a search on Real Time Trains quickened the pulse as the ‘logs’ to Chirk was due. Almost as I finished reading the words the unmistakable pounding of a 56 drifted into auditory view and we prayed for the sun to stay out. And stay out it did, I still can’t believe how lucky we were. Subsequent shots of an unliveried 350/4 and a Plasser tamper pushing a trolley-thingy were nowhere near as good with the sun in (even after adjusting the white balance).
    From there it was a short hop to Greenholme by which time the rain came on. The intermodal DRS 66 working which normally flies through Atherstone was reduced to a crawl on the climb to Shap and made for interesting listening. A mental note and reference shots were taken of this excellent location and then it was onwards and upwards to a sadly freight-free Carlisle station. The first night stop was at Moffat, staging post for the final thrust in the morning. If you’ve never visited Moffat I can thoroughly recommend it, plenty of good hotels and restaurants in a beautiful setting in the Southern Uplands, and after breakfast only an hour to Glasgow.
    The subject of Thursday’s attention was a 35-year old successor to the famous ‘Blue Trains’; the Class 314. This recording session had had a very long gestation. Following a steer from a DEMU member in early 2013 (thanks Peter), a session had been set up for February last year, but was cancelled at the last minute when the host called in sick – doah! Luck was on our side this year and thanks to First Group and staff at Shields Road this veteran unit has now been captured for posterity. No model yet as far as I’m aware but a set of recordings ‘in the bank’ nevertheless. We never thought we’d see models of Lion / EM1 / Blue Pullman etc so someone will do one eventually.
    Friday and Saturday was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends but sad news was to arrive. My very good friend and ‘chauffuer’ Richard had to drop everything and leave for Manchester where his aged father had taken a turn for the worse. Sadly he died not long afterwards but Richard was fortunate enough to get there in time.
    The rest of the show wasn’t quite the same, and getting myself and all my stuff home was interesting with no transport. Plenty of offers were forthcoming from fellow modellers and traders passing through the Midlands, but everyone was leaving on Monday. As I needed to get back on Sunday the services of Virgin & London Midland were called upon. An offer of £92 First Class was grabbed with both hands. My camera, recording gear and show purchases went to Manchester with Richard. The stock boxes that would fit in Charlie’s already-bursting van went to Leeds, and the rest was kindly taken by Fiona of DCC Supplies back to Worcester and I will be re-united with them all at Leamington show. Oh, and my car was stuck at Richard’s house, half an hour from home.
    Recording sessions for later in the year are shaping up nicely. Nothing I can divulge just now but suffice to say that there are some interesting and innovative things in the pipeline. Finally, with the assistance of Pete Harvey we will shortly be launching a range of 'easy-fit' resin underframe tanks incorporating loudspeaker enclosures, to make high-quality sound much easier to achieve. First examples will be for the Heljan 26, 27 & 33, with a set for the Bachmann 40 currently in development.
  6. legomanbiffo
    A bit of a mixed bag in the blog this time.
    Just before Christmas I got a text from Brian Porter at the Crewe Heritage Centre telling me he’d managed to get the traction motor blowers and a number of other things working on the APT. A mutually acceptable date was arranged and off I went, mic in hand. It turns out that the traction motor blowers sound quite different to those of the Class 91, the ones I’d previously used as a ‘best guess’ in lieu of the real thing. The percentage of genuine APT sounds in the project is around 80% now, not bad considering my original expectations a few years ago were for door slams and very little else. While I was there I took the opportunity to climb on the roof and take a full set of reference photos of every vehicle, for the common good. These have been uploaded to my Flickr page, just search for legomanbiffo.
    By far the biggest disappointment of the day was the Closed sign on the door of Cheshire’s finest fish & chip shop, Goodwins on Nantwich Road, just a short walk from the station on the way to the Heritage Centre. I cannot recommend this place highly enough. It’s a ‘proper’ fish & chip shop with a counter to the front and a sit-down restaurant to the side. The fish is freshly cooked to order, the chips are great and for a very modest sum you get bread & butter and a cup of tea to finish off. Just what was needed after a hard day’s recording. But not this time, doah!
     
    The latest set of sounds out of the foundry are for the Windhoff MPV. Yet another one rendered possible by a friendly modeller in a position to assist. Many thanks, you know who you are! In the model I used one of the modules as a speaker enclosure with a 20x40 speaker facing down. I had to cut part of the module’s plinth away to let the sound out but this can hardly be seen behind the side railings. I spent most of last Sunday getting the handbrake to work how I wanted it. The chip is ‘out now’.
    A Deltic-mad pal of mine has let me loose with his roster of locos in an attempt to discover the best speaker arrangement for said loco. Four designs were tried, all in the underframe area with the main drive unit facing down, and each utilising as much of the underframe area as possible. First up was a simple infinite baffle which was very average. The second attempt was an extended bass reflex which was better, but not by much. Third was a transmission line design with with the tube folded backwards and forwards five times (to maximise the length) before venting to the air. Sadly the results in no way matched the effort involved. The fourth design gave the best Deltic sound I’ve ever achieved in 4mm; a large chamber excited by the drive unit from a bass reflex, and a reflex tube that runs the full length of the tanks down one side. This was made from some rectangular section plastic tube.
    Also ‘out now’ (out for some time in fact) are my Class 40 sounds, recently tweaked to suit the retooled Bachmann model. The model itself has come close to meeting the lump hammer more than once. The new pickup arrangement is not fit for purpose and despite being a huge model there is nowhere to put a decent speaker. I resorted to a 23mm round speaker fitted in an airtight enclosure in the tanks, which is just about acceptable but not really bassy enough.
    In a departure from the normal photographic fare, a treat for the kettle fans out there; a pair of black 5’s racing up the WCML near Atherstone on the Cathedrals Express just before Christmas. And no, I don’t do sound for them yet!
  7. legomanbiffo

    Plasser & Theurer

    By legomanbiffo,

    I can't believe it's so long since my last update, an unfortunate reflection of how busy I've been of late. My missus has been labouring under the misapprehension that DIY and household chores somehow have priority over serious model railway business. She was helping me clean out the loft the other day. All dusty and covered in cobwebs, but she's good to the kids. Actually, she's not been very well lately, she's even had to give up her coal round...
    The new Deltic videos, filmed at a friend's 7mm garden railway seem to have gone down well, clocking up nearly 1500 hits in a month. Thanks very much Dave for the help. We had so much fun on the day that I forgot to record the various departure sequences and only two of the four were captured. The Heljan model is on the back-burner for a while now but I will get around to putting another big speaker in the free space inside the body. The loco was supposed to have made a public appearance at Newark until a certain Yorkshireman managed to corrupt all the CV's and disable the sound before the show even opened! It seemed to go down well at Peterborough though. I always know from the smiles when I've got it right.
    Out in the field, just two recording sessions to speak of. The first was undertaken in the 'Garden of England' at the excellent Spa valley Railway (Tunbridge Wells, Kent; sadly on the other side of the M25 hell-hole from me). The session was supposed to have included the Thumper but its turbo expired the week before so in the end it was just 31206. The Thumper is likely to be in the spring now.
    It was a real pleasure to spend the day on the 31. As a youth living on the Birmingham-Norwich route, 31's featured heavily in my haulage book (just had a quick count-up, over 60 different locos, happy days). This one sounded excellent and pretty much everything was in full working order including both sets of horns. The crew were great and gave me everything I needed. I had plenty of time to set up and tied a boom-mounted mic about a metre from the exhaust (see the photo), which yielded some very clean engine sounds. I also managed to capture various sounds that I missed in my first 31 session when I was just starting out (exhausters, brake applications, BIS etc). The sound project has had an intermediate upgrade (various new auxiliary sounds and enhancements but still with the original engine sounds). The new engine sounds will be incorporated asap so I suppose I'd better start looking for a Hornby loco to ready for a video. Public thanks go to the loco owner, the crew and the railway. As well as the Thumper and 31 the Spa Valley have also got a couple of 33's and the 37 which I recorded in 2011 (37153, now looking superb in Inter-City livery). Well worth a visit if you're down that way. Oh, and they have some of those old-fashioned trains too :-)
    On the way down to Kent I dropped in to see Richard Armstrong of 'The Armstrong Powerhouse' and have a play on his Rail Simulator set-up (big screen, simulated loco control panel that sits on your lap, sub-woofer, the full monty). Great fun and very interesting to compare and contrast his railway sound editing environment and business with mine.
    The final amusing anecdote in Kent came after the recording session when we were all starving hungry and ready to eat. I went back to my hotel room (right next door to the railway) to drop my gear off. Walking back down the corridor I was horrified to find a long trail of dirty black footprints leading all the way to my room. Oops! Cue big tip and apology to the cleaner next morning.
    The most recent recording session was with a Plasser 08-16 tamper which came about as an indirect result of Jonathan Buckie's superb kit. My helper on the day was exemplary, a real authority on the subject and I suspect this won't be the last time we work together. Recording and editing this has been really enjoyable as it's so different to everything that's gone before. They are incredible pieces of kit and very interesting technically. I doubt whether I could have made the project work so well with a v3.5 chip but the v4 is so flexible it has been quite straightforward to make the necessary adaptations from normal loco operation. The project is almost finished, just final testing really now. Jonathan is trying to get a model ready with fitted sound for Warley. I suspect he may shift many more kits than he anticipated, and good luck to him.
    My 03, 33 & 60 are now in the very capable hands of Lord & Butler for weathering. When I get them back I'll try and get a video done of the 60, and the 33 to demonstrate the all-new engine sounds (recorded from 33109 at the ELR). The 03 will be a while longer as the project is in need of major work to bring it up to current standards.
    The (very) slow boat from China has finally docked with Charlie's 144's on board. Part of last month was spent recording new beepers, brake applications and a handful of other sounds to enhance things. I also managed to capture a generic Northern Rail on-board announcement which has been included. Now I have had a production model to play with the project has been tweaked to suit the mechanism and the finishing touches have been applied. Many locos and units have distinctive sound features that immediately identify them and you just have to get right. For the 14X units it's the ear-splitting flange squeal that results from the long wheelbase, two-axle design. I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. As with the original version, you can squeal, creak and groan to a standstill and the sound will pick up again (slowly at first) when you set off.
    Finally, the next recording session is shaping up nicely so perhaps more on that next time...
  8. legomanbiffo

    Song 2

    By legomanbiffo,

    Ding-ding diddle-ing ding ding, ding ding ding ding. I had my head shaved. By a
    Jumbo jet. It wasn't easy. But nothing is-eh. The first verse of a tune you've all
    heard countless times on the telly; the classic Song 2 by Blur, all of two minutes
    long if I recall. And Blur is this week's tenuous connection to my life over the past
    few weeks! There's a bit of activity to report as a result.
     
    Firstly, more raw materials have been obtained after another private session at the ELR.
    The original plan was to record one of the 37's, the 47 and 117 but at the last
    minute we were told that one 37 had flat batteries and the other was going away.
    Fortunately the railway gave us an offer we couldn't refuse so in the end we got
    the 37 a day early before it went away, then the 47 & 108, and the 40 thrown in for
    our trouble on the second day! Apart from a quick listen I haven't assessed the
    suitability of anything yet but I'd like to do a better 47 and a different 37.
     
    The 33 fans will be pleased to hear that I have just put the finishing touches to a
    completely new set of engine sounds, recorded from 33109 on the last visit to the
    ELR. I'm much happier with them than my first set. They've got a really nice
    chuggy, rolling idle, and the greater variety of recordings enabled some really
    nice departures and coasts. An upgraded project is available now.
     
    Progress continues on my own GNER 225 set for Warren Lane in its new roundy-roundy
    guise. I'm in the process of fitting chip, pick-ups and speaker to the Mk4 DVT and
    detailing all of the coaches. The 91 now has a new Heljan 86 mech, v4 chip and bass
    reflex speaker in the tanks and sounds really good. Once the DVT is up and running
    I need to update the sound project with the odds & ends of new material recorded at
    Crown Point last year.
     
    No progress to report on the Deltic other than to say that demos of the 7mm
    test-bed loco at Derby and Aylesbury shows went down well with those that heard it.
    I've also borrowed a sound-fitted Bachmann model to use as a 4mm test bed. I'll
    bring the Heljan loco to Wigan where I'll be on Charlie's stand all weekend with
    this and plenty of 4mm stock to listen to.
     
    In the photo, the Summer theme continues with a vintage scene at Nuneaton on a
    Summer Saturday circa 1979. Other photos from the day show throngs on spotters on
    every platform. Most of them are still there on sunny days but they are now wearing
    flat caps, sitting on folding seats and have no kids, jobs or mortgages to worry
    about!
  9. legomanbiffo
    Not my favourite track by The Undertones (that would be John Peel's favourite, Teenage Kicks) but good all the same.
     
    Yes, the Siberian winter has finally drawn to a close and not before time - I was getting fed up with it. The camera has been out a few times and I was especially pleased with this one of 90041 near Dordon. 'It's all about the sky' as they say.
     
    On the workbench I've finally completed engine #1 of the Deltic sound project. In 7mm it sounds really good. In 4mm it's good but quiet, and I fear there is little more I can do about it. With an Alan Butcher bass reflex speaker it is acceptable for home use but you won't hear the engines properly at an exhibition. If anyone is desperate to try it please drop me a line, I'd be interested to hear some feedback before finalising it (you'll get a free reblow with the finished article of course). Developing the second engine has begun but is tricky as it has to be done in the model (the Lokprogrammer software allows you to test one sound set at a time but I need to drive two at once to see how the engine sounds interact).
     
    Also coming along nicely on the workbench, and very likely to overtake the Deltic is a new engine sound set for the Class 33, based on recordings made last year at the ELR. This one has got a really nice chuggy, rolling idle and is quite different to the first one I did.
     
    I thought Bristol show was better this time than in previous years. There were three really nice 'kettle' layouts and even - shock horror for Bristol - some Modern Image. I picked up a nicely weathered Heljan DPU from Lord & Butler which will no-doubt feature in a video sometime in the future. It's a really nice model and sounds great with a 23mm round speaker at either end (inside the body on the 'shelf' above the bogie towers, facing up).
  10. legomanbiffo

    Jeremy Paxman

    By legomanbiffo,

    Did you threaten to overrule him....? Aah, a truly classic political interview by the man at title. Now if I ran the BBC, all political interviews would be conducted with a Nicholas Parsons 'just a minute' style bell. As soon as the interviewee failed to answer the question or decried the opposing party, the bell would be abruptly rung and the interview terminated. Tell us what you're going to do, not what the other party aren't doing, otherwise you're off.
     
    Anyway, as you've probably gathered I've been up to something in the Paxman department. First of all, I've done a bit of upgrade work to the Paxman HST sound project. This involved adding engine priming sounds of the correct duration, and a higher-revving speed step at the top end, with all its associated transitions. This has improved the driving experience no end. I've also developed a speed-dependant 'Mk3 coach wail' function. With this a 'wail' clip is played at regular (speed-related) intervals to mimic the airbag suspension noises. There are 8 different wails and the sequence is randomised so the end result sounds completely prototypical. The effect is on a function key and can be turned on and off at any speed as required. This will be rolled out to all Mk3-related chips (67, 86, 87, 90 etc) in due course. Finally, I have been studying a 'wired for sound' HST video in order to model the operation of the cooler group fan more accurately. I'm confident I can get it to behave prototypicaly now, I just need to develop the flowchart for it. This fantastic video gives you an idea of what I'm trying to achieve;
     

     
    In other Paxman news, I had a very interesting discussion about 'Project Miller' with the chaps from the 125 Group at the Nottingham show this weekend. If you haven't heard, the aim of Project Miller is to restore the prototype HST to an operational state using a production Paxman engine. It turns out that the project is much more advanced than I was aware of so all being well we'll all be able to enjoy that Paxman scream again before too long. Details here;
     
    http://www.projectmiller.org.uk/
     
    and here;
     
    http://www.125group.org.uk/
     
    With the 57 now out of the way and the HST upgrade (almost) completed, the Heljan Deltic has come out of its box and back onto the workbench. Work continues on removing rough edges from the engine sound transitions and creating the last few clips I need to make the engine sounds as responsive as possible. Once this is done I now know where I'm going with the second engine so the whole thing can be brought to a conclusion (at least in 7mm). I'm sure it's going to sound rubbish in 4mm but there are a lot of devotees who won't take no for an answer so my work may not be over at that point...
     
    In this week's photo, East Coast's 43320 leans to the curve as it hammers through Alexandra Palace on a Northbound working, unfortunately sounding like a lorry instead of a proper train :-)
  11. legomanbiffo

    Genetically modified

    By legomanbiffo,

    The 2013 recording season has gotten off to a flying start. The text, received with 48 hours notice said words to the effect; 'do you want to come along and do some recording, with three or four different locos to choose from, one of which you haven't recorded before?' Let me think about that for a minute.....
     
    After an hour's drive and a generous helping of lard to set me up for the day, a start was made on the previously unrecorded loco, the 'genetically modified' 57. I must say that when I started out recording this beast it was mainly to fill the gap in the range of chips that I do. I always enjoy the recording process and I knew some users out there would be very happy but at the end of the day I wasn't intending to get a model 57 for myself. Fast-forward two weeks and all that has changed. The damn thing has grown on me to the extent that I bought a sound-fitted one at Doncaster show from those fine chaps at Lord & Butler / Dirty Boy weathering (more on them in my next blog entry). In comparison with the Deltic the editing has been a breeze so far. The project is shaping up nicely with all the ancilliary sounds done, also the multistart functions which were enabled by some skilled choreography by the driver on the day. Many thanks, you know who you are!
     
    It's worth pausing for a moment to say that the driver can make the difference between a good project and a great one. When making recordings the instructions you have to give them to achieve what you want can sometimes appear quite abstract (slam the door 9 or 10 times in different ways....don't open the throttle until after that bridge....sound the horn before moving off, not during, and so on). Once you explain the reason in each case, most will understand and do their best. Some set out to do their best but forget and fall into 'normal driver' mode. Some listen attentively and then do their own thing regardless.
     
    It also helps to have a driver who is knowledgable on the internal workings of the loco. Can he (temporarily) isolate the noisy traction motor blower whilst you record the quieter compressor next to it? Can he cause the start to fail? Does he know how to bring on the cooling fan if the engine isn't hot enough? Happily the driver in this case was exemplary and a full set of great sounds was captured. After the 57 was finished we moved on to a couple of other locos to capture a handful of sounds on each that I was missing. All in all a very sucessful day's recording.
     
    Despite all of the above the Deltic is still moving forward slowly. Every clip of engine sound is in place and there now follows an iterative process of getting them to flow naturally regardless of what you do with the throttle. Once that is done the project would normally be finished but in this case there's the second engine to think about. I'm currently gathering information from various sources that will enable this to be modelled accurately.
     
    A week off work has also enabled progress on other things. I've fitted an XL chip and a Visaton 40x70 speaker (!) to a Heljan 7mm 37 for Charlie. The first attempt with the enclosure was unexpectedly rubbish but the second was far better. This just goes to prove the importance of experimentation when doing your speaker fit. I've also done a chip and speaker fit in the new Heljan 31 for a customer of Charlie's. This was something of an ordeal and the thing nearly got the lump hammer on a number of occasions but it got through unscathed and sounds very good. It's also got independantly switchable tail lights and the fan works slowly enough so that the noisy mechanism doesn't drown out the sampled clips of the real fan.
     
    In the photo, 57012 pauses at Nuneaton on a working from Lawley Street to Southampton (I believe).
  12. legomanbiffo

    Snowed under

    By legomanbiffo,

    The last couple of weeks have seen me snowed under literally and metaphorically. I thought the chip workload might have slowed a bit in January but not so as you would notice. It genuinely pleases me to know that my work brings a little pleasure into people's lives. Another enjoyable part of what I'm doing, and one which Paul Chetter and I have often spoken about is the importance of capturing these sounds as an historic record; a part of the nation's heritage. As I've said before it would be nice to try and capture every UK diesel and electric loco and unit. A mammoth task I know but we're working on it :-)
     
    You Tube viewers will be pleased to know that the video camera has been dusted down and I'm all set to do a bit of filming over the next day or two. Things which I hope to film include;
     
    1. The 08 which I've faded, weathered and fitted a v4 and two Zimo sugar cube speakers. It will demonstrate the new manual priming pump sequence and the user-selectable wooden or metal door slam sounds.
    2. 37514 in weathered Railfreight Metals livery, standing in to demonstrate the new 37/9 sound project.
    3. A short clip of the 25 demonstrating the user-selectable single or double compressor sounds and the ETHEL functionality.
    4. A short clip of the 350, with a proper 350 this time, demonstrating the new on-board announcements.
    5. A work-in-progress clip of the Heljan Deltic just to prove that I have actually been doing some work on it!
     
    In other news, Charlie has temporarily deviated me from my intended path and had me bringing my v3.5 Thumper project into the 21st Century (purportedly in readiness for the Kernow model but I suspect it's more to do with the fact that he wants one!). The range of sounds isn't quite as exhaustive as some of my other stuff as I don't have a fully comprehensive set of recordings but I'll fix that in the fullness of time. It's just about ready now.
     
    I've also made a start on a custom speaker box for the Heljan 7mm 37 which will use the Visaton 70x40 drive unit. I suspect it may growl a bit...
     
    I was hoping to get some good railway shots in the white stuff but there was a distinct lack of sun. I did manage to capture 70005 on the way to work though.
  13. legomanbiffo

    Slug it out

    By legomanbiffo,

    I've had to set the Deltic to one side for a while as it was seriously doing my head in! However, one man's loss is another's gain as my time has been temporarily diverted to the recordings of 37901 made at the East Lancs Railway last year. Regular viewers will know this to be a habit of mine, switching from one project to another in order to maintain sanity and enthusiasm. Progress on the slug has been rapid and satisfying. Don't get me wrong, I love the Deltic sounds and they are really good in the Heljan loco but I've found the editing quite tedious and time consuming.
     
    In contrast, I am really enjoying the sounds of the chugging Mirlees engine in my Bachmann 37 test bed. I suspect it will be very popular with the 37 fans out there. The sound project is quite different to 'traditional' ones and although there are inevitably some looped engine sounds in there, you tend to hear them less than normal and the overall effect is more like a real loco. The engine sounds are 80-90% completed so it won't be too long before release. Thanks to Richard Armstrong for use of his photo here. Check out what Richard did with his recordings of the loco at 'The Armstrong Powerhouse' website.
     
    On the photography front, the alignment of good weather, a week day, and a day off have been few and far between, but today fortune was on my side and it was off to a couple of favourite local spots on the WCML. I've had my D700 for a while now and I'm starting to get the results I'm after.
     
    Finally, this evening's task was to fit a v4 chip and a pair of 'sugar cube' speakers into Maggie's 08 for Warren Lane, by way of contribution to this excellent layout. Listen out for it next time you see WL on the circuit.
  14. legomanbiffo

    A wail of a time

    By legomanbiffo,

    Well that's the trauma of Christmas over for another year. Another chunk of modelling time irretrievably lost, bah humbug!
     
    Progress on the Deltic has been slow as a result but it's going in the right direction. The loco had the opportunity to stretch its legs on my pal's layout this evening and I'm pleased to say that it's shaping up very nicely. The slow wind-up to the highest notch is pure Napier heaven! The session also gave me a good idea how I can enhance the two-engine experience, something I now need to test on the bench.
     
    As a short aside from the Deltic, I did a bit of work on the 86 sound project as my Hornby / Heljan hybrid model is nearing completion. One of the sounds in the project was a nice Mk3 coach 'wail'; the sound you get from the airbag suspension, typically heard when they leave the station. Nice, but fairly basic. Well earlier in the year I heard plenty of these wails on a photting trip to Manningtree, where trainloads of Mk3's arrive and depart every half an hour. At the time I was kicking myself not to have taken my recording gear, but took the opportunity to capture it, purely for reference, using the voice memo app on my phone. Turns out that the recordings were far better than I expected. I have extracted 8 of the best ones and created a flowchart that plays them at random, on demand, and at just the right interval to simulate slow-speed navigation through pointwork or round curves etc. Once I'm happy with the execution I'll roll this feature out to other locos typically used with Mk3 stock (47, 67, 87 etc). I've also added the ability to run the traction motor blowers whilst stationary (already present on my 85, 87 & 90).
     
    The photo of the Mk3 was taken at Crewe Works open day, the same day as the Deltic in the previous blog entry. How long before we get a better model of them?
  15. legomanbiffo

    People power

    By legomanbiffo,

    The last two or three weeks have been a bit of a blur, with a week's working trip to Norway followed immediately by Warley and then another week away from home on a course. Work is such an inconvenience when you're trying to develop new sound chips :-) As is customary with Warley, everyone left their orders until the last minute so getting them ready whilst in Norway was a bit of a challenge. Fortunately this possibility was forseen and a family member received full training in the use of the Lokprogrammer before I went and had everthing ready when I got back!
     
    I've now taken delivery of a Heljan 7mm Deltic and 37, and an Aristocraft 66 for 'product development' purposes from Charlie. For some reason my missus doesn't see it as product development and unkindly tries to purport that I'm playing trains. I've fitted an XL to the 66, which comes ready-fitted with a great big speaker. Whilst it's very loud all I have proven so far is that Hornby and Bachmann aren't the only ones to 'throw' speakers into models with no regard to basic audio principles. It's going to sound fantastic once I've changed this but for now, people power has forced me to sideline it in favour of something else....
     
    Yes I've finally been nagged into submission by all the Deltic fans out there. The question 'when will you be doing a Deltic?' is second only to the question 'when will you be doing a Western?' and has recurred with monotonous regularlity since I said I'd done the recordings. Well an XL has now been fitted in the Deltic and the first of two custom enclosures has been built, in the tanks. This will be sufficient to make progress on the sound project but I'd like to build another enclosure in the body to deepen the bass even further, just to see what's possible. I can confirm that test clips definitely make it sound like a Deltic though.
     
    As for the Western, I'm working on that. The general answer to any 'will you be doing a xxxxxx ?' question is yes, where xxxxxx is UK diesel or electric. Recordings are generally made on an opportunity basis though so some projects will take a lot longer to appear than others. Anyone with ownership of, or access to a loco or unit may short-circuit this wait by getting in touch with me!
     
    In the photo, 55016 Gordon Highlander looks stunning at Crewe Works Open Day, sometime in the 80's I believe.
  16. legomanbiffo

    Iris my case

    By legomanbiffo,

    Like an old PC adventure game, today's blog will be text only as I'm away from my computer this week. The eye-rolling title (think about it) refers to Saturday's visit by the 'Dream Team' to record Test Coach Iris, the ex-RTC Derby Lightweight DMU at the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway. This was adorned with more mics than you can shake a stick at (3 near the engines, one near the exhaust, one picking up just the wheel clacks and bogie sounds plus a hand-held to capture the horns, cab sounds etc). The guys at the Railway were great and were very helpful in achieving what was a very successful outcome. The unit is really nicely preserved and definitely worth a ride if you haven't partaken.
     
    In other news, the Class 40 project which has been quite a while in gestation is finally ready. Charlie will have a small number available at Warley so I suggest you contact him if you'd like to reserve one.
     
    I'll probably make a start editing the 37/9 sounds next.
     
    Bif
  17. legomanbiffo

    Fantastic Voyage

    By legomanbiffo,

    I often find that as a project is nearing completion it pays to step away from it for a while and do something else. You then return to it with a fresh pair of ears, add the finishing touches and iron out any last remaining niggles. As such, I have briefly stepped away from the 40 to the Voyager.
     
    I upgraded one end of my Bachmann Voyager from a v3.5 to a v4 some time ago but never got around to the other. Having now fitted the second chip and ran it, I found that the engine sound editing and programming was a little short of my current standards. Having spent a couple of days on it I'm now much happier. I've also added a handful of new features including; the ability to start the intermediate engines one at a time, two slightly different engine shutdowns, and a more accurate recreation of the 'forward' position on the driver's controller on the prototype.
     
    On a real Voyager, the driver selects forward when getting ready to move off. The engine revs rise but nothing more happens until the controller is advanced further, whereupon the set moves off. Similarly, when coming to a standstill, the set can be left in forward (and hence at slightly higher revs) until the driver puts the controller to idle or moves off again. The principle is exactly the same as my latest electric projects (85, 87, 90 etc), and has now been enabled with the Voyager.
     
    The project has been prototyped as a 'single' chip version, now I need to make the necessary modifications for the two-chip version so that the horns etc change ends when the set reverses, the engine starts and stops are staggered and so on.
     
    Tonight's good news was that Charlie has finally found a Heljan 7mm Deltic down the back of his sofa. This will be passed onto me at Warley so I can prototype the Deltic sound project in it.
     
    The photograph was taken at Milton Keynes, one of my series of 'railwaymen at work'. Try covering the despatcher and guard with your thumb and you'll find the photo much less interesting.
  18. legomanbiffo

    Do the European

    By legomanbiffo,

    No doubt someone can tell me what these locos are. Each one had three more pantographs than most electrics in the UK, presumably for multi-voltage operation. We waited 20 minutes to get a better picture without the catenary masts in the way, only to get 'bowled' by a poxy two-storey Dutch bogcart!
     
    Yes, after talking about it for several years my pal and I finally got round to visiting the Eurospoor show in Utrecht, courtesy of Stena Line from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. I was well impressed by the ferry; very clean and modern with excellent food, but less so by the 0600 alarm call (0530 on the way back)! Eurospoor is about the same size as Warley but instead of being crammed into one hall it's in three and as a result is much more spread out and enjoyable. And the food was miles better, NEC take note. There was much less sound on display than I expected, but I was most impressed by the Viessmann working tamper with sound, and a G gauge layout with some of the best smoke / sound fitted steam locos that I've ever seen. I also marvelled at a small OHLE maintenance vehicle, apparently made by Fleischmann, with a working pantograph and an inspection platform that raised up and down and then rotated through 270 degrees. Hornby and Bachmann have still got a lot of catching up to do.
     
    On the way back from Harwich we planned to do some photting but overlooked the fact that it would still be pitch black (and foggy) when we got off the boat. However, it was just getting light by the time we got to Manningtree, and we got some very atmospheric shots as a result. After a couple of hours there it was over to the ECML foot crossing at Offord Cluny (a 'Trainspot', and a truly excellent one at that). Being south of Peterborough it is very busy, with commuter EMU's adding to the usual ECML fare. The level crossing gives plenty of warning of approaching trains, and there are good pictures to be had in both directions from both sides of the track.
     
    Back on the workbench, progress continues on the class 40 project which is about three-quarters done. So far there are just three engine notches (plus idle), but some very long transition sounds which add greatly to the experience. With the v3.5 chip long transitions were a bit of a no-no because they lengthen the throttle response time too much but with v4 it's different story as you can program your way out of them. I suspect there'll be room for a fourth notch (and hence four different ways of departing) before I'm finished.
  19. legomanbiffo
    ..the 40.
     
    I've found in the past that 7mm models ruthlessly expose any deficiencies in your sound clip editing, ones that you often get away with in 4mm because you're not hearing the full range of sounds (quite why I never noticed through the hi-fi at the editing stage is something of a mystery but there you go). For this reason I took the decision not to try and prototype the Deltic sound project in 4mm. As I haven't yet been able to lay my hands on a 7mm Deltic yet (just a matter of time), that particular project has gone onto the back-burner and the 40 reinstated at the front.
     
    Despite the insatiable demand for chips from Mr Petty I've managed to move forward with it and it's coming along nicely, whistling round the layout like a good 'un. The technique that I developed with the 20 & 37, to make the engine sounds less 'loopy' and more natural is working a treat in this case.
     
    For those interested, the sound editing workbench comprises the output of the PC going to a Sony TAN55-ES 110 watt per channel power amp and a pair of Tannoy 611 floor-standers (basically my old hi-fi, another interest of mine). Plenty of oomph to rattle the window frames and get the missus knocking on the ceiling when Emmerdale's on. Most of my clip editing is done with Cool Edit, an ancient and pretty basic sound editor but nice and easy to use and more than adequate for most things. Occassionally I'll use Sound Forge for some of the more involved jobs and batch conversions. All editing is done with 44kHz / 16-bit mono clips that have been converted from stereo original recordings.
     
    The photo is 40049, coming off the 'Cov line' at Nuneaton on a wintry day circa 1981.
  20. legomanbiffo
    ...you mow the lawn and find a car. That was just one of the laughs on the list of 'You might be a redneck if...' that amused me a while back. Well I had a similar moment today when I found a Heljan 86 whilst tidying up the heap. I remotored my Hornby 86 some time ago using a Heljan Hymek mechanism, which has the same wheelbase as the Hornby model. It's a great runner but the fact that it is the wrong wheelbase started bugging me almost as soon as I had finished it. Sometime later a cheap Heljan 86 was acquired to put this right but as with so many projects, it got sidelined in favour of other things. So with SWMBO out for the day and the Rolls Royce DMU sound project completed, the opportunity arose to put this right. Good progress has been made and I am very pleased with the results. I was unsure how to fix the body on but it is such a snug fit that fixing isn't necessary. Sound is provided by a v4 chip driving a bass enhanced speaker built into the underframe. I did try a sugar cube which would fit without surgery but it just wasn't loud enough.
     
    Thoughts are now turning to what will replace the RR DMU in the sound lab. I have tried some of the Deltic sounds in a test bed loco with a bass reflex speaker and the results were quite pleasing. Then there's the unfinished 40 project, and some great recordings of 37901. Decisions, decisions...
     
    In the photo, an unidentified 86/3 passes Hartshill circa 1979 on a Class 1 express.
  21. legomanbiffo
    Coming soon to a DMU near you, Rolls Royce engine sounds courtesy of the Class 127 high-density 'Bed-Pan' unit at Llangollen. After a very successful weekend spent recording the 104 and 127 with Paul I'm afraid to report that the 127 has leapfrogged everything to the top of the editing pile. The unit had a lovely rasping exhaust which we managed to capture in addition to the engines. Rasping exhausts is something the previous DMU's I've recorded didn't have so it had to be done. I know there are some who would question why on Earth I would edit DMU recordings before I did the Deltic or the 40, but there you go. Good things come to those who wait.
     
    At the end of the second day I found time to have a look around the shed at Llan and see the incredible restoration work these guys are doing, not only on DMU's but also wooden bodied coaches and so on. To compare these 'works in progress' to the operational sets is a real eye-opener. As I think I said in the previous post, the Wickham unit is a pleasure to behold and its art-deco interior has been restored to a very high standard. If you haven't made the trip yet I can thoroughly recommend it.
     
    These two trips were the first test of a new solid-state recorder which permits the simultaneous capture of up to 6 tracks at once (three stereo pairs, or combinations of mono & stereo etc). It's quite a step up from my old Minidisc recorder which will now be retired.
  22. legomanbiffo

    Wet wet wet

    By legomanbiffo,

    I'm just reviewing the latest set of recordings from a full day at the ELR yesterday. Fortunately the rain didn't impact on the recordings themselves but merely added to the general discomfort of standing up all day, holding mics in uncomfortable positions and struggling inside confined and dirty places (no, not Bury). After leaving here on Tuesday morning it was raining within 15 minutes and it didn't stop chucking it down until early on Wednesday morning. 50mph all the way up the M6 in heavy traffic and spray, and the same coming back yesterday.
     
    Anyway, enough of that and on to the subjects of my attention; 33109, 37901 and 55022 (again). The 33 was of interest because the first set of 33 engine recordings I did are not that great; adequate but no more. The latest set are much better, still perhaps not the definitive set (I have higher standards these days) but nevertheless better. The horns were very good at both ends. I'll have to compare these with the ones on the existing project to see if there's room for improvement. I also grabbed some good brake release and application sounds which I was missing.
     
    Second trip of the day was on 55022. Again the main objective was to capture better engine sounds than the previous trip. I deployed two mics, and one of them gave me almost exactly the results I was after. It has taken 30 years to improve on the Deltic recordings I made with a cassette recorder at Peterborough in 1982!
     
    Finally it was the turn of 37901, Mirrlees Pioneer. As far as I remember (not that far these days) I've never heard one of these before but I really liked the sound of the engine. Again two mics were deployed, one near the exhaust and the other in the engine room. Having just finished doing the 60 the similarity of the engine sounds was notable. Even the priming pump and cranking sounded very similar. I preferred the more mellow sounds from the exhaust-based recording though and it's probably those I'll run with as they capture the character of the loco better. I'm looking forward to editing these, more so than the 33 or Deltic. They might even leapfrog ahead of the 40 (sorry to those of you who are waiting for that).
     
    55016 Gordon Highlander is pictured at Crewe Works Open day. I forget which year it was (I've got the ticket somewhere) but no doubt someone can tell me.
     
    Off to pack the bags again now as I've got to be at another preserved railway at 0900 in the morning. No peace for the wicked...
  23. legomanbiffo
    ...will be a bit late. Once again it's been a case of 'real life getting in the way' in the last couple of weeks. I had hoped to have the 60 & 67 out by now but Mrs. B had plans for me in the garden, and the day job, well it's such an inconvenience. Despite this, progress has been made and I now have a few days off so things should pick up a bit.
     
    The 67 is almost there, just a handful of improvements to the flow of the engine sounds to satisfy myself that it's ready. The project sounds great in the Hornby model, credit must go to them for putting the speaker in the right place. I'm waiting for the DB-liveried version myself so there will be a delay before I do the video.
     
    The 60 isn't far away either. A couple of the engine transition sounds are quite long and I need to build escapes into them in order to maintain responsiveness (something that wasn't possible with the v3.5 chip). This is another loco that is going to need a bass reflex speaker for best results. I'm using one of my 37's as a test bed and it sounds really good through the bass reflex facing down, but it's not quite so good through the speaker fitted to a factory sound-fitted 60. It's still better than the Hornby chip though (not difficult I know but...). I'm planning to mill the tanks off mine and fit an extended bass reflex, but I reckon that you could fit two normal bass-reflexes in the roof space with a little plastic surgery. Thanks are due to Pete Harvey for lending me a couple of Hornby 60's to play with during the project's development.
     
    I'm looking forward to Barrow Hill on Sunday. If anyone wants to say hello, drop me a PM.
     
    The two recording sessions next week will probably be the last of the season unless something special pops up. All will be revealed once the recordings are in the bag.
     
    In the photograph, 67029 approaches Reading with a 'Rugby Special' heading for Cardiff Millennium Stadium on 6th August 2012.
  24. legomanbiffo

    Snap happy

    By legomanbiffo,

    A few days off work has, for once, coincided with decent weather so two days of photography was kicked off with my newly-acquired D700 at Elford & Portway on the NE-SW route between Burton and Tamworth. Despite being just down the road I'd never been before. It's a cracking location though, and was pleasantly busy. As well as the usual fare of 170's, Voyagers and HST's I saw two 60's on the Kingsbury tanks, Colas's 56094, two 66's, and a DCR 31 towing another 31 and a 56, all within three hours or so. Tomorrow I'm off on an East Midland Ranger so you might see me in Leicester, Nottingham, Grantham or Peterborough.
     
    Progress on the 60 engine sounds has been laboured, hampered significantly by the remaining flakiness of the Lokprogrammer software. I'm getting there slowly though. I've still got about half a minute of space to play with, which will be put to good use 'gilding the lily'. Amongst other things the chip will feature 'multistart' and different horns in either direction. Following recent progress, the horns will be playable right down to short 'toots'.
     
    Mr Petty informs me that there's a Hornby 67 on its way to me, which will give me a chance to tweak the project to suit the new mechanism, and will no doubt prompt a bit of upgrade work before the orders roll in.
     
    On the modelling front, all of my IC-liveried Mk4's have now got Keen System's underframe skirts fitted. I'm planning to get some reference shots on the ECML tomorrow. These will be forwarded to Mr Harvey to produce some etches to cover the Hornby underframes, which bear little resemblance to reality.
  25. legomanbiffo

    Back to the 60's!

    By legomanbiffo,

    No, not flared trousers, kipper ties or mind-altering drugs, I'm afraid it's bad news for whistler fans; the 40 project has temporarily returned to the back-burner as the weekend threw up another opportunity to attempt the Class 60 engine recordings. I wasn't going to take any chances this time and with Paul Chetter's assistance, three mics were brought to bear; one in the engine room, one against the grille closest to the engine room, and another on the bodyside near the exhaust. The engine room track captured the character of the loco very well and also sounds great through a bass reflex speaker in a test-bed loco so we're now cooking by gas. The auxiliary sounds are all done so as soon as I've edited and programmed the engine sounds and completed final testing it's a runner. I'm guessing two or three weeks.
     
    It's worth highlighting the cost of recording trips such as this. On this occasion the venue was two and a half hours away from me and an early start was called for so I travelled down the day before and stayed in a hotel. Being a Bank Holiday everywhere was booked up and I ended up paying over a hundred quid including breakfast. Add an evening meal and a tank of diesel for the return trip and you're looking at close to £200. This is in addition to the cost of getting the rest of the sounds last time (same venue, cheaper hotel, perhaps £150 in total), and before you count the 40 or so man hours of editing and programming (and any fee paid to loco owners etc in other circumstances). It's tough work but someone's got to do it :-)
     
    In the photo, 60011 breezes up the Lickey on the 28th Feb 2012.
     
    With the loan of Hornby's latest 90 & 92 models from Charlie, the two sound projects have been tweaked to suit the modern mechanisms. Sound fitting is very straightforward on both and even with a standard speaker inside they sound really good.
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