D1059

ISTR a mention of a BR disco carriage in one of the RCTS's 70's coaching stock books - anyone remember that ? STEVE

Cheers That's do-able, I'll have to see if I've got any time this weekend and chop the mock up round a bit. STEVE

Thanks - I don't have to decide the height just yet, so will leave this on hold. ISTR that Faller do a tank farm kit - anyone know how tall the tanks are ?

Which track do you mean - not quite sure from the description ?

Total build time, including finding and cutting some bits of ply was about 4-5 hours, certainly something that could be done over a weekend. Its just scraps of wood and old business cards - stuff that was lying around. STEVE

Hi- yes the vertical screen will be the backscene. I'll have to see if curved bends will be possible, but I take your point, they would look better. The baseboard joint will run along the left hand edge of the viaduct which may complicate achieving that. Height is yet to be determined - it will depend on the chosen height for the legs. I want to operate the layout from either front or back to cater for exhibition use or at home.

Hi - still mulling it over. I'm fairly certain the track layout will be OK as I've been playing with XTrkCad for a year. One thing that did stand out is the height of the fuel storage tanks. The ones on the mock up are scaled to around 40'. I think this will be too high and will compromise the sight lines to the sidings beyond when viewed from the front. STEVE

Hi - thanks. I've tried to make shunting tricky, but plausible. I'm playing with some MBD couplings from the N Gauge Society Shop, which are similar to DG's and supposedly will couple to them as well, but can be made with just a hold and fold- no soldering. Doubtless I will post about them in due course. STEVE

Some shots of a very rough quarter scale mock up I've built

Anyone have any pics of these in use ? The C&L website link for such a shot appears to be missing. Thanks STEVE

Thanks - I like the idea of the cripple road leading to a missing span. Maybe a signal post with missing arm. Must'nt overdo the decay though. Most major lines that closed in the 60's had only been out of use for a few years by the end of the decade. STEVE

My previous layout - Totnes (a few pics appeared on this forum) is now no more. I'd run into a dead end developing it, couldn't get the buildings right (apart from a superb model of the signal box built for me by a club member) so the layout has been dismantled, and the bedroom in which it resided kitted out as a proper modelling room rather than a modelling area shoehorned in around a layout. Having operated quite a few different layouts at exhibitions over the years I've decided to have a go at building one of my own. One of the most fun layouts I've operated is East Dock, a minimum space dock shunting layout in EM, built by a fellow Abingdon MRC member; so after a lot of thought I've decided on a shunting operation, larger than a minimum space challenge type layout, but small enough to be kept assembled at home. The trackplan (as it stands at the moment) is shown below. Size is 7' * 18". It doesn't show too well, but the right hand end beyond the viaduct has a scenic break hiding the 2 fiddle yard sidings/or cassettes It is set in the late 1960's and will be WR hydraulic era based. It will portray an urban goods only freight terminus with Fuel terminal NCL sundries depot BR parcels depot Private aggregates siding (offstage via transfer siding) with ex BR industrial shunter Either a domestic coal yard or a small cement depot (leaning towards a cement depot having seen the new Farish Presflos) The biggest challenge for me will be to use auto couplers with delayed action - I've been playing with MBD's and they seem to do the job. Got to work out how to convert all the current locos and stock though The trackplan was designed using XtrkCad and I've been shuttling virtual trains around working out where to place the magnets. Next step is to build a quarter scale mock up of the layout. Can't decide whether to model the viaduct as an operating railway or as disused with a span missing over the parcel depot throat. What do you think would look better ? STEVE

I hope you're right But last time I asked on the Dapol stand at the N Gauge Show (2009 IIRC) I was told it definitely wouldn't be produced in N - hence the question has anyone seen it in writing. Dapol have been quite open about the Western - OO & N, but not the 22 STEVE

Has anyone seen a definitive statement from Dapol that the 22 will be produced in N as well as OO ? I hope I'm wrong, but I can't recall any announcement.

Hmmm - I was thinking from the angle of those Mercigs shots, that the loco looks a tad low on its bogies. Whenever I look at a shot of the prototype I'm struck by how they look to be almost on 'tippy toes' - maybe a result of the short body. I wonder if removing some of the valance over the bogies will change the look of the model ? STEVE

Very nice Graham, I fancy a Gresley myself, although it dates it more into the 70's than 80's. I'll have to dig out my old RCTS coaching stock books, but from personal observation I can't remember seeing any in revenue earning service post 1977, although I'd love to be proved wrong. I wouldn't worry too much about lettering for the CCT. Most such ex SR wooden stock was in an indescribably filthy state most of the time; so much so, it was often difficult to tell what the body colour was lurking under the rail dirt brown covering. STEVE