HeatonLodge40

3 hours ago, ferret1956 said:

Bar stools? I'm planning to bring a short length of lineside fencing for some Mugwumping. 

One assumes there will be a small stand dispensing Tizer, squashed egg butties and Harvest fruit pies? 

Sadly no Tizer but there are 10 pairs of binoculars you can use !

4 minutes ago, melmerby said:

I wish you well and do hope you get a decent footfall. The exposure on the Hornby programme should help enormously.

e.g. PW's layout received much coverage on mainstream TV which would have helped it greatly.

 

As you will have gathered from my posts, I'm a bit of a pessimist when model railway items are presented to the general public and have seen people's (presumably not hardened modeller's/enthusiasts) responses at some of the good layouts at Warley. 

Although the models are excellently constructed, more often than once often I have heard such things as "not much action", "not enough trains" etc. at a layout.

I must admit I'm guilty myself when if I stand by a layout for a period of time, I expect to see a moving train, even though away from urban centres and some mainlines, the reality is long periods of inaction.

I designed HLJ to work automatically from the outset to get around the points you made. 
Because the layout has many conflicting routes and space in the fiddle yard for 28 full length trains it would still be exceptionally difficult performing all these complicated manoeuvres - with even 15 operators. 
With the automation switched on there will always be 3 trains minimum either approaching or actually passing. 
It’s great to see the colour light signals change slowly too - just as the old filament bulbs did back in the day 

9 hours ago, class27 said:

Enjoyed the piece on the Hornby programme on TV the other night. Did have a mounting sense of dread as the resin started smoking!!!!!!!!! Thought you managed to remain calm very well, don't know how many takes there were though......

It was a disaster! I did say ‘oh balls’ which the camera picked up. The resin stayed sticky for months till I redid it. Oh well

Yes of course turn up anytime from 4th December- 19th December. The e-tickets are just an option.

1 hour ago, TT-Pete said:

 

Indeed it was, I was yelling at the wife "Turn the sound up, turn the sound up! That's the one on that forum that you're always complaining about me always being on!" She was dead impressed and now not only does RMWeb have a veneer of respectability, but you'll have an additional two visitors when the layout eventually ventures south-west of Watford.

Ah thanks it was very nerve wracking have to say! 
Thanks also to all who’ve bought tickets! 

On 25/10/2021 at 12:40, SHMD said:

A very nice web site there, very slick.

 

Looking at the "Engine Shed" section, there are a couple of DMUs, on page 1, both described as class 104s.

To me, the first one looks like a Derby product (possibly a class 108) and the second one looks like a Gloucester RC&W class 100 DMU.

Either way, I'm pretty sure they are not BRC&W class 104s.

 

 

Kev.

You’re correct Kev it should be 101 I’ll get it corrected.

On another note I believe the layout is on the ITV news.. last item later on

Just now, HeatonLodge40 said:

Yes someone sent me a copy. No p*ss taking which was nice. 
 

Although where £250k comes from I’ve no idea. 

8 hours ago, Neil said:

Nice piece on this layout in today's Observer. Straightforward reporting, no hint of stereotypes or condescension.

Yes someone sent me a copy. No p*ss taking which was nice. 
 

7 hours ago, Crepello said:

Just wondering if advance tickets will be available. I'll be travelling from London and don't want to be disappointed. 

Yes from tomorrow when the website goes live you should be able to buy an eTicket on britainsbiggestmodelrailway.com 

I know what you mean about flight cases they are brilliant!

I’ll probably put dividers in them and use them for the freight stock. 
Locos will be going in the flight cases with drawers. Other drawers will be for a full set of spares/track repair/scenic repair/track cleaning etc 

Yes I chose the HST logo for the reasons Rob & MGRxtreme said above - even the public know what it is. 
Steam loco no good cos there is far more diesel on HLJ. 
Personally I’d have had a screaming 56! 

I’m well aware of the coupling issue thanks. Give me a chance!

Im modifying the GUV coupling by unscrewing the coupling housing and dropping a blob of hot glue half way along the spring - which cuts the spring travel by 50%. Crude but it works 

7 minutes ago, Chrisbr said:

I am assuming the brakes come on when the train splits..... 

I wish. 
It’s usually a two minute walk to find the back half of a train. Another problem to solve 

On 26/07/2021 at 09:34, Simond said:

There are a few proponents of rigidly fixing hooks to buffer planks, though this concerns me.

 

I have taken to cutting a slice of silicone rubber tube, and fitting that in place of the usual spring, at least on locos.  This is much stiffer than the spring, so the hook does not pull out unrealistically, but does provide some shock absorbtion.  And it’s quite prototypical, if you squint hard enough.

 

hth

Simon

The coupling issue is becoming exactly that - not so much because of the hooks pulling out but breaking because of the weight of the very long heavy trains.

For example the 40 on the HUO’s in the video above has now another 15 16T mineral wagons added. The 40 will still pull them - even up the incline - but the train often breaks apart with broken coupling. 

I haven’t time to change coupling (to more robust ones) given the 500 or so wagons on HLJ, so I’ve ordered a large quantity of stainless steel links about 1cm long.

I’ll use these as a fail safe and loop them over the coupling. Might not look pretty on close inspection but better than a pile up

23 minutes ago, Joner said:

That must be a heavy load of hoppers, all the coupling hooks are pulled out.

Very impressive, can't wait to see this for real.

 

Paul

You’re right, in fact I never saw more than 15 on a train heading up the incline back in the day. I’ve just this thing with long trains.

I am going to have to address the coupling issue - long passenger rakes have the same non prototypical effect too