young37215

I managed to get a Roads and Rails supplied base enhanced speaker into the bodyshell by filing down a couple of mm off of several of the 'prongs' on the pcb. I doubt the sound is quite as good as the fuel tank option but it is a considerable improvement on the as supplied speaker at a modest price. https://www.roads-and-rails.co.uk/collections/speakers/products/27mm-round-bass-enhanced-speaker-4-ohm

It was not difficult to find a picture of ETHEL 1 minus boiler steps and body side warning flash as seen in August 1983. A shame that the inaccuracies might be there but the Heljan offering still looks like being an upgrade to my old Hornby repainted ETHEL. From the quick review of pictures that I found it appears that the ADB prefix to the number was only applied to ETHEL 1 when ex works and was replaced by the number only at a later date. The only pictures of ETHEL's 2 and 3 show the number only, i.e. with no prefix.

37033 seen at Mallaig depositing TTA's from 2B12 1630 from Fort William into the oil siding and then returning to head the 2B18, 1855 return working to Fort William. The shunt required for a load 4 train with TTA's on WHL4 is more complicated because the length of the train exceeds that of the run round loop. The train has to reverse onto the main line where it leaves the TTA's, return to the platform and run round in the usual manner. The coaches are then shunted to platform 2 before the TTA's are collected, returned to the platform where a second run round is performed. Only then can the TTA's be shunted to the oil siding.

Hi Andy Good progress, I like the rocks even more now they have been painted although I think they could be darker. How they appear from day to day is a function of the weather. On a good old wet and windy west highland day the wet rock will look darker whereas on those numerous extended spells of bright and warm sunny weather, they will be lighter. The other point I have noticed in my research is how much grass has managed to grow on the rock faces. The picture below is from the mid 1980's which shows how green the rock faces had become. I like the BSO acquisition, are you planning to renumber your coaching stock to SCR numbers? regards Rob

I have no idea is the short answer although the suggestion makes sense. There was a 40 minute pathing stop at Crianlarich so it was not as if there was any need for great urgency and I doubt that wagons were dropped off of both trains very often. I have seen pictures of trains dividing south of the station allowing the wagons for Crianlarich marshalled to the front of the consist to be dropped off before the loco returns to the remaining wagons. On WHL 4 northbound wagons for intermediate stations are marshalled to the rear of the consist. On arrival at their destination the loco detaches, runs around and shunts the wagons to the siding. The loco then returns to the train and departs on its journey; 37014 is seen doing this after 37039 has departed south.

Yesterday was all about running trains where I ran most of a days WTT and made a start on cleaning carriage wheels in between trains. 37039 had charge of the daily Oban to Glasgow freight which passes the reverse working headed by 37014 at Crianlarich where crews change over to return to their home depots. Wagons are picked up and set down at Crianlarich as required.

An hour or so of enjoyable running but no work on the layout yesterday because my new laptop arrived and I spent the day setting it up. My 10 year old, Windows 7 laptop will be moved to the loft for possible use with the layout. The most notable thing on the new laptop so far is a considerable improvement in the picture quality which meant I spent quite a while trawling through my old pictures of the layout. 37012 arrives at Garelochead where the eagle eyed will notice the missing signals at the northern end of the station. These were on the workbench at the time of the photographs.

The signals at Garelochead were working by the end of the day. As ever ironing out the bugs and fine tuning them took time but I got there in the end. Everything feels such hard work at present with short, damp dark days and a hermits existence; oh for the light and warmth of the sun. I hope to find the energy and enthusiasm to crack on with the Garelochead South scenic section today. A few trains ran in between the S&T work, 37012 arrives at Crianlarich with 1T32, 1226 Oban to Glasgow.

I fear that is exactly what the steel was used for. There are pictures around showing the BDA's on the Mallaig extension during 1985 in a mixed consist where they were attached to the rear of passenger trains much as the fuel tanks used to be attached to the tea time train. Yesterday's efforts were focused on S&T as I spent several hours automating the signals at Garelochead. By the end of the day I had 1 working and a revsed fitting method that should speed up the installation of the other 3 today. A few trains ran, 37 022 is seen leaving Crianlarich and making its way along the re-routed link to the upper section en route to Fort William.

I noticed the same on my Iphone SE yesterday for the first time. It appears on my PC the first time after I reboot every week because I delete coookies on start up. Why it has started to appear each and every time on my phone is a mystery. I am not aware that Apple have changed IOS recently so I lay the cause to a change on RMWeb.

Thanks Doug. The work has taken up far more time than I had intended, everything seems to. That said, given the current circumstances, there is not a lot else to be doing on these cold and dark days. I spent a few hours running yesterday constantly looking at the area and trying to visualise how best to move forward. One of the two side to the cutting needs to be removable and Ian's suggestion of using tin foil to create a base structure mould for the cutting seems to be the way to go. I intend making a start on this later today. 37022 continues north seen arriving at Crianlarich. The consist includes 2 BDA's loaded with steel for Mallaig which will form part of the new A 830 road construction project. I am not sure what colour the steel girders should be, they are currently in grey primer. Can anyone confirm what the colour of these would typically be?

With the South Garelochead area cleaned up a new day of operations can begin. 37022 has charge of 7B02, 0606 Glasgow Sighthill to Mallaig Junction Yard seen passing through the section under development. I am hesitating about fixing the rock moulds in place because I want to re-weather the rails as the initial coat of paint has worn thin. Accessing the narrow site with an air brush looks like being a challenge; in a perfect world I would make removable modular scenic sections to make the task easier. However the shape of the rock moulds means they will need to be seated in a bed of plaster/sculptamould. This makes getting their position correct an important, one chance only task because once the bed sets it will not be easy to move the mould. No pressure then! Into the cutting

Bin there, done that! Now I leave the soldering until after I have proved the polarity wiring is correct by just hooking the wire through the microswitch connections.

Dam, this is one of the neater areas of my wiring. The best I can say is that it all seems to work. Progress yesterday was considerably greater than in some time. I added the lower baseboard to the new supports and started layering the polystyrene that I will use to create the mountainside. The idea is that the line from the fiddle yard runs through a cutting and along a ledge on the mountainside to arrive at Garelochead. The section of baseboard has 3 distinct purposes, from right to left the approach to Garelochead, the gradient between upper and lower levels and Mallaig on the upper level. Trying to keep them separate whilst blending the scenery is a challenge. The approach to Garelochead seen from what will be the cutting. The area to the left falls away to the lower base down the steeply graded mountainside.

Too much woodwork of late and a challenge that has taken several days to resolve. Where the baseboard and trestles had been removed was a large hole where the new lower level baseboard is to sit. Problem; there is nothing for the lower level baseboard to attach to. Finally a solution, hang the lower level baseboard off of the upper level. Just need to construct a ladder style frame to attach to the upper level and the problem appears to be solved. The lower level baseboard will be lightweight plywood which the new frames will hold comfortably. About time, this needs finishing because I want to be able to play trains again! The hole New framework attached

The practical guidance is much appreciated. I had already downloaded the user manual but was unaware of the ways in which interaction with ESU takes place. I am keen to get exploring so fingers crossed that the delivery from the USA by DHL arrives in the next few days.

Iron Planet Hobbies from the US have Cab Control in stock and confirm that the MC2 unit is the upgraded version. I have finally made the jump and placed an order for one. I am sure I will be back seeking further advice when I manage to make a horlics of installing it!

Another day of woodwork and making a mess. I have managed to complete the bulk of the baseboard cutting which gives me an idea of the space in which I intend creating a woodland valley. I have installed new trestle legs so that the baseboard does not collapse (crosses fingers and hopes not to be woken by the sound of falling timbers!). The old trestle legs still have to be cut out and the new lower baseboard fitted but that will have to wait for tomorrow. A happy new year to everyone The area to be cut out Sawing creates lots of sawdust, new baseboard will be installed about 100mm below the track level Landslide at Garelochead Vacum cleaner to the rescue, most of the scenic material will be recycled Waiting for the line to reopen

Ian Your suggestion of foam as a safety net is a good one and works well in the space at the end of the sidings. Hopefully this will reduce the need for the red button. At Garelochead I could not get comfortable with using polystyrene to create the scenic effect that I want and so I started the major PIA that cutting the baseboard results in. Lots of wires to shift, a new trestle to build and awkward bits to cut out even before the collateral damage to the existing scenery caused by the electric saw hacking its way throught the baseboard. By the time I packed in for the evening I had created a lot of sawdust and made even more mess. There is no chance of running trains with all the upheavel and I thought pictures of an empty Crianlarich taken using early morning natural light create the impression of inactivity that I wanted to portray.

I can show you proper untidy wiring anytime you like! I am sure your planning and attention to detail will pay a dividend in the long run

You have made an excellent job of blending the rock faces into the landscape . I look forward to seeing the transformation when you get around to painting them.

Whilst hydraulic buffer stops might be sensible, I am quite happy with my cheap and cheerful Hornby one. The plywood is securely screwed down so the real risk is to the rolling stock where, touches wood, I have not trashed anything so far. Fortunately the red button on my Guagemaster Prodigy solves most late braking situations! The valley I want to create to the side of the approach to Garelochead is constrained by the framework that is under the flat basebaord. Ideally I would cut the existing baseboard out and create a new base 100mm lower. Annoyingly this would mean significant changes to the trestle framework which at this time I am not happy about making. Poor planning really but I did not think of this 4 years agi when I was constructing the basebaord and supports. I am attempting using polystyrene in an effort to create a similar effect but have not got to anything I like as yet. All very irritating, I took this out on the remaining wagon wheels which have now all been cleaned and by finishing the operational days running. 37017 is seen again at Crianlarich with 1B16, the last Glasgow to Oban service of the day.

Six months have passed and it seems we are no nearer knowing what ESU upgrade plans are. I am sure the pandemic is one reason for the delay, is anyone aware of any other reason that ESU are so slow to announce or even release an updated version of their mobile control unit?

Thanks Richard Duly purchased this morning, I will be interested to see how much additional muck this removes from my locos

When I Google Deoxit contact cleaner I get a variety of contact cleaner products with similar names under the Deoxit brand. Can anyone advise what/whose specific product I should be looking for?