Northroader

Easter is just ten weeks off, Stubby, we're all awake at night worrying....

For adaptability, I like my layouts to have a detachable scenic back, which is just painted cartridge paper clipped to a hardboard support, which bolts to the rear of the b/board. (Curving of which I was rabbiting on about earlier) This means you can alter the "setting" of the place from Dowlais to Wentloog, frinstance, in two minutes. Then removable plug in buildings or bridges can round off the changes, generally in my case for different pregroup companies. My impression of your models is that you work in a great amount of terrific detail which isn't so quickly swapped, so going from scrap yard to coal merchant is more difficult.

More progress with the track work. The far end point is now fixed in, although control switch yet to do, and a track panel for the loop line made and installed. You may notice the dog eared copper clad sleeper ends at the front, the adjacent tracks are fed from feeders at opposite ends, with one being through a switched polarity point frog, so there's a risk of shorting if I'm not careful. With this track in place I can check the alignment of the platform line, now I've got the fourth and final point made. AAR track centre standard is 14 feet, I've knocked a foot off, but still well into the depot platform. You're looking at an 18" wide b/board here; Gordy, you're right, 21" would be better, spec. writers for the Delaware & Hudson layout please note! The trouble is my depot building is a fairly typical type with wide overhanging eaves, so another problem to solve. The dowels locate the base of the building. The curved strip by the new point is a flexi curve (W H Smiths) which I find useful for marking out. I can also finish fitting sleepers to the run out of the first point I made now I know where it's aimed at.

Where's the fjord going then?

Right you are, it's your line after all. Will await developments with interest.

Versines, droppers, who needs em when you can get her to help with the track?

Hope I'm not talking at cross purposes here. I haven't worked on third rail for a very long time, but the collector shoes were all steel blocks, they had to be to withstand the impact shocks and wear. They were suspended on links which allowed some "dangle", and bonded with thick flexible copper braid straps. It was interesting to see the amount of staining around the third rail area shown in your pictures, presumably due to wear. The collector tanks referred to are for another purpose entirely, retaining the toilet effluent after it is flushed. All modern stock has this feature, badly needed. Tanks are pumped out at the depots. More recently I worked at a depot servicing HST sets, which were about the last trains to be built not having this. If a toilet is flushed at speed, the contents hit the track and splatter everywhere with a fine spray, so that the undersides of the set had an even coating of you know what, with tiny scraps of toilet paper stuck in it. Every night in a depot a fair few disc brake pads need changing, and the maintenance staff were working in these conditions, and still are. We could spray the working area with nice smelling disinfectant, but it still ain't the same. Sorry to blunder into your thread with the joys of depot servicing, so could I say how taken I am with the quality of your modelling. At the present time your reports on the sea wall problem is really useful, hopefully it's not in the same league as Dawlish.

Do you need quite so many sidings?

1. Short bay line maybe and room for station building at back.

2. Behind that space for semi-flat buildings, dobbins with carts and carriages, in the space you've gained.

3. Just a quayside siding in front.

4. Splitting into two sidings front and back takes up most of their length with a point.

5. Having so many tracks converging into the sector table will make treatment of the exit "bridge" or whatever difficult.

6. Sector table or cassettes? (I'm a cassette fan, me)

Taking the Stationmasters report on (post 1251) I should think juicing up Reading to Didcot looks do-able by Autumn. There has been quite a lot of heavy ironmongery appeared just in the last month on this stretch. The main substation at Foxhall, on Didcot power station and the National Grids doorstep, looks as if all the bits are in place, although there's no plastic eagle owl atop as the third rail folks like. Masts and cross-pieces quickly fizzle out to the West of here. I'd say well over half of the base tubes are in as far as Challow, using the same "dot and carry one" techniques we've enjoyed watching happen from Reading. Some around Uffington, then there's another cluster past Shrivenham to the Oxford road bridge. It's hard to tell how the Grove/ Wantage Road bridge is shaping, something must have happened in the last month, but quite what I couldn't say. Here in the fair city of Bassett we're looking forward to bridge works starting soon. The Network Rail official site gives a completion date of March 2017! Tell me I'm just a pessimistic old sod.

Really pleased to see a new post from you, it all sounded so black in November. It seems there's still a load of stuff to do, but glad to see you're going forward. Please keep us posted, and good luck with 2016.

"May the Light of the Lord shine right up your Tunnel"

Looks great, more room behind now with a very modellable station building. I've got to admit no knowledge of Newnham, (hangs head in shame) that's a very good link. You're off to a very promising start. Good luck!

This is worse than the Christmas quiz. You haven't left anything for room either side, is it going up on a viaduct? No kickback into sidings in front of the fiddle/ sector table?? Yet there's space for something??? Then there's the ?traverser at the far end.. All very mystifying. I promise to stay awake.

Hang on! It isn't a small version of Kingswear, is it? With a quayside at the front.

Ouch!

Wakes up, and starts to take notice.....

I fancy the 4year old structures around the Kennet bridge were more of a "statement of intent" as they've looked pretty forlorn ever since. Heads will roll? Doubtful, the jobs have been split up with responsibilities spread round any number of government bodies and network rail in a way that can be bounced about quite happily with the buck not stopping anywhere. It ain't like it used to be.

No, I think by and large, your trains look really attractive running as clean units, even if it was becoming rarer to see them like that in reality. It's just the brake tender that looks a bit odd in a clean condition. I suppose I never saw a clean one, although the diesels could be quite decent. It's a lovely model and I would think the sort of thing that could become a collectors item, so needs careful treatment. Why not get some pastel chalk from an art shop, say black and umber brown, rub on emery paper and sprinkle the dust over the brake body, then dry brush over? If you don't like it, it will wash off with soapy water, and no harm done.

The brake tender will need filthying up a bit, it's a nice job but it won't look right til it's dirty.

While we're recovering from Christmas torpidity and struggling with the quiz, I thought I'd post a feature which is being kept for the rebuilt line. This is a "view blocker" which covers the join between the depot baseboard and the fiddle yard. I always feel that a scenic background is an essential feature on a model, and carry it round the end, so there is an exit hole needed for trains to pass through. The blocker helps to conceal this, and also support the back where it finishes. It's centred on a "poster" A3 size, which I draft out on my old computer, which gives general detail of the line being modelled, map, pictures, logos, to help set the scene. This is mounted on 12mm ply or chipboard board and faced with transparent plastic sheet, held in position by thin plastic angle (both from B&Q) secured by small screws. You'll note I make no attempt to mitre the corners, the angle is thin enough to overlap without looking too clumsy. Two steel strips (B&Q again) attached to the back, hook over the ply fascia strip glued to the front of the baseboard, and a diagonal brace is bolted to small angles screwed to the board near the top in the middle, which keeps the board vertical. This carries down to a short upright extension in the back corner of the baseboard. One thing which is needed is a patch over part of the back scene hole, needed now I've reduced the number of tracks through.

Well, that's it for now, tomorrow night I'll have a "wee dram" to honour folks north of the border, Auld Lang Syne and all that. Happy New Year, everyone.

Enjoy Christmas with the family, shake off the bugs, and pick it up in the new year. When you get going again, you'll knock off the 460 and wonder why you lost interest, it's looking great right now to the rest of us. All the best.

Big wordsmith, ain't been to peteRborough? Not even for a ride on the Nene Valley?? You''be got to be spoofing now!

The records of track maintenance kept by BR were scrapped by Railtrack after handover. One of my acquaintances likened it to "year zero" under Pol Pot. The result, as we all know, was Hatfield.

The article quoted is rather romancing about the degree the long concrete footbridge at SJ was/ is not used. It forms a useful footpath link locally, and also is on the route of a long distance footpath, starting at Seaton and finishing at Watchet, so that's me and the village postman.

"A peaceful and blessed Christmas to you, brother Duck"

There's now a third point made to match the other two, for the far end of the loop. I projected the line from the second point, and lined up the new point on this. It was placed at right angles to the end, so that the extension could be on a cassette. Besides GP's and RS's, there could be F's and kettles appearing and needing to be turned. The extension line is being made for just a loco length, it would be more convenient when shunting to have extra length for a freight car as well, but it would add too much for the overall length. This set me off thinking about how shunting moves would be done- a bit late in the project, you'd say. I decided no problems would happen, easy if the train is on the depot line, more complicated on the loop line, but we're only talking of trains with two freight cars an a caboose moving round two sidings with three car spaces

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With this point in place, there are several matters arising. Firstly, I've placed two freight cars on the front siding. The nearest shows that there's just about enough space for a team track, hard standing where a road vehicle can transfer commodities to a freight car- such as fruit to a reefer, oil from a tanker, sawn timber from a flatcar, giving plenty of variety in the fleet. The furthest car away shows where an industrial building can go, where the set square is. Again I can just about squeeze something in, thinking on the lines of a feed mill, supplying the local farming community, as Englefield is the sort of small town station for this. The gap between the two cars is where I'm thinking of putting in a road crossing.

Secondly, it's becoming clearer that some reshaping of the depot will be needed, as the line will pass over the toes of the two passengers- sorry, customers! Waiting patiently for their train, maybe down as far as the industry in the near corner. More work...

Well, that's enough for now. It's the time of year to give best wishes to all the visitors to this site, especially the select band who've been good enough to post their thoughts, much appreciated. Have a good Christmas with your folks, hope there's something special in the cardboard box under the tree, and that next year is a really good time for modelling.

Helping toward 15k, but relevant, wasn't the St. Ives line the place for doubled up 45's? Summer Saturday's, Cornish Riviera portions, running round...