CazRail

Signals looking great, and the 222 is coming on very well! Impressed!

My completed rake behind 37414. Next for these coaches is weathering.

The final two completed! This livery takes a lot of masking, which is a job that I'm not fond of... Jack's final coach My final coach. My coaches are populated and fitted with lights, and will eventually be suitably weathered. I'll post a photo of my full rake tomorrow in natural light.

I think the p-way walk through after a steam train's been through? We cleared all the rubbish and debris out last year before any steam came, and it doubled up for us to get it ready for inspection. Ofcourse had to be a Sunday for longer line blocks!

Ive worked in the Conwy tubes, filthy place to work. It gave me a fair idea of what working in the Britannia tubes would have been like, but obviously not half as long.

Not that Im aware of, it was a group of local youths that caused it. They went for a walk down to the tube on the Bangor side after a party they were going to attend had been cancelled. They walked about 10 yeards into the up(i believe) tube, and had lit a page of a book so they could see. It was thrown onto the floor and rubbish etc caught fire, which quickly spread to the roof. The boys were only fined £5 for tresspass on the railway, as there wasn't enough evidence against them.

50 years ago, on 23rd May 1970, the Britannia Bridge caught fire. Here's a documentary about the fire, where locals and people involved including some of the firemen are interviewed. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000jljp/britannias-burning-fire-on-the-bridge On YouTube, there are also a selection of videos about the bridge, one im particular about the re-building of it. I live within half a mile of the bridge, and use it daily for work and to get on and off the island. I've also worked on the bridge, so i find the subject very interesting Cheers Caz

Colas 70802 at Llanfairpwll 24/05/2020

A little Update. Jack's BFK is now complete... Also competed and re-assembled this morning was one of my TSOs, which is fitted with lighting and populated. Two more TSOs and then the project will be complete!

They're brilliant little couplers, very handy. Personally Ive kept Kadees on locos and on the ends or rakes, as it will allow for magnetic uncoupling if I choose to do it in future

Impressive work, mate!

Cheers, Nick! No worries mate, first two ready for transfers now. Today I completed my BFK... The green above the luggage doors is too dark, but I can live with that for now anyway. Very happy with how this project is coming along.

Update with the two commissioned Mk2 TSOs... The grey next, then black ends. Stripes have come out better this time.

Unintentionally busy day on the workbench today, my BSK's stripes have now been corrected... Initially I wasn't going to do it, but am now glad I have! Also, the first of Jacks Mk2s are primed.

This evening, after I got my little one to sleep, I decided to start to correct the lining in the BFK/BSK. I started with the blue, which I simply extended upwards by eye. Hopefully all being well, I'll extent the rail grey to suit, then it should be fine, I've now sourced two Mk2a TSOs to complete my rake, which will be the next into my paint shop. I've also been commissioned by Jack to re-spray him a set, so will keep me busy over the next few weeks. Numbering wise, I've decided to use some info Merfyn provided on another thread, numbering both mine and Jack's vehicles from that. My rake will be munbered 5271, 35516, 5365 and 4873(Mk1TSO). I will find a number for my chocolate and cream one at a later date.

Don't know how I've managed to miss this topic! Looking forward to mee more!

The latest... Lining is out of proportion but Im going to try remidy that by dropping the dark blue a tad. Otherwise very happy, the most complex re-spray Ive done to date, and a tricky one to get right I've found. To add next, black ends, roof, yellow for the first class and green above the luggage doors. Today some DCC Concepts pick-ups arrived, and duly installed in the BFK's chassis, and in the two mk1 TSOs ive got. They come with small self tapper screws, so a pilot hole of the appropriate size is all thats needed to do to fit these. Thanks for looking!

A little update on the Regional Railways coaches... The re-spray of the BFK coach is progressing well, with white, rail grey and provincial blue now applied. Next up for that will be Regional railways light blue for the stripe, then the black ends. The other two coaches, the mk1 TSOs, as well as the BFK have both been fitted with lights, using the same method as Everard Junction in his latest video. This picture shows me testing one of the lighting circuits, as you can see gives a fairly realistic level of light. All coaches will now need people fitting, and eventually weathering. Hope everyone is well and safe. Caz.

And so I've done 430. A weathering really improves the look of a Vi 37. Next project will be to set up a rake of 4 reggie rail coaches for them to haul. I've already got two standard open mk1s, one being Bachmann reggie the othe Hornby chocolate and cream. Trouble is, the RR mk2s from Bachmann are expensive. So Im buying older ones to re-spray. Already bought paint (Rainbow Railways acrylic), and a BFK.

Having been stood down from work on Tuesday, I like many have found myself with quite a bit of free time, so Ive decided to weather a few locos. First one complete was 37414. Next up will be Transrail 37430, and then hopefully 56003. Hope everyone is well, and keeping safe.

Having today been stood down from work due to Corona, im now in a position where I have atleast 3 weeks of free time to fill. Whilst I dont have the materials to build board 1, im giving consideration into modifying a staging board into a standard board and then doing that. I will definitely however be improving what I already have and hopefully some rolling stock projects. A small little job done today, fitting the Derby Lightweight and class 108 DMUs with Bangor and Amlwch destinations to make them suitable for the layout. These are simply waterslide transfers from Railtec, and are very good. They're also really quick in despatch and have superb customer service. Highly recommended.

Another 2 boards have had their fronts painted today, one more to go plus the staging boards. This photo shows the difference between the painted and unpainted woodwork... I also dedicated a foam tray to hold the two 2mt tanks and the push-pull coaches. Ive ordered two 11litre 'Very Useful Boxes' to hold these trays. Each one will/should hold two trays, so one box will fit two DMUs and the push-pull. Ideal. I then decided to pose the push-pull train on the layout. Apologies for the poor quality photos.

And so with this Corona, the exhibition booking for the layout has been cancelled/postponed. It was due a second appearance at Anglesey Model & Collection show in Llangefni, but as with everything else it's been postponed. Progress on the layout has been sparse since the last post, but despite everything I'm still going to keep working on the layout now as if the show was to still happen. The work must go on! So really only two bits of progress to report. Firstly, the push-pull driving car/brake has been more than less completed, only needing to glaze the windscreens. A composite coach has also been added. Secondly, Ive begun the process of painting the woodwork on the front of the layout black, to make it look more presentable. 41324 with its push-pull set. Board 5 with it's front painted up. Next up(apart from the painting) will be to make legs for board 2, re-configure the south staging board(as board 5 has made an appearance since the last show) and carry on with scenery, experimenting with different products.

Well I've bought a 3D printer...

Thanks, I came to the conclusion of using DB red after seeing a photo of 67014 and 67013(i think) together at Crewe. The RAL for the Vallejo white grey is 9002, which Ive seen someone mention it to be same as TfW grey on Bookface (be it right or wrong I don't know), on the model i think its a tad too white but Im happy enough with it.