ptrabant

Thanks all , might have a go and purchase one .

I have a couple of Merseyrail 73s from Lima , DCC Fitted . The Dapol 73 is clearly a better model and at present a great price . I wondered whether to upgrade chassis to the Dapol version and possibly fit / drop on the Merseyrail livery 73 body from Lima. is this possible / a simple solution someone has tried ? ( I dont have the skills to repaint the Dapol 73s into Merseyrail livery) .

Layout has been in storage for over 3 years , only just getting it set up again. Some newer wagons like the in-house ITB ballast hoppers have never even been tested .

The OBB layout will be ready at some point in the next year , until then I start to test all the OBB stock. I have rather big collection including some unique locos , so it may take a year to sort out the stock! some Re super detailed others are older models back in traffic , so be fair I enjoy running the mix.

Scenic fiddle yards . When you think how much space a fiddle yard takes , why not make it look like the yard / carriage sidings? here is the fiddle yard or Edge Hill “Gullet” Sidings. TheLiverpool North Docks traffic has historically gone to edge hill and the passenger services via Edge Hill , so might as well name the yard after the place.

Well it’s taken many years of dreaming , semi retirement , taking the classic car from the garage and a purchase of a second hand fantastic layout to make real progress . it’s the spirit of Alex Dock and the traffic that was in Liverpool in the 1980s. I wish I could find images ( outside of the 2 steam rail tours) of Alexandra Dock LNWR before the 1980s but after 5 years of internet trawling I guess I have found about 20 . Still here is an image of a freight trip on the layout . Lots and lots to do as I turn a rural branch into Liverpool! P

The further away from the main depots and authority then the more interesting it became . I worked at a freight location far away from authority where stories of some of the activity would sound made up. Same applied to operational practice whether driving side or signalling further away from authority working “straight up” was not always the done thing . Most books from railway staff seem to talk about straight up working , yet there was not a Class 08 in the UK that did not have the DSD “chocked” . Lots of tales from steam drivers about coal that’s for sure. f

Well I nearly sold the Austrian Narrow Gauge Collection after loosing my close friend and the guy who really knew everything about the subject . Now decided that I should really produce a new layout and not sell up . It’s only a shelf layout round the edge of a box bedroom but having a track plan is a start .

US modellers are great at doing “what if” local railway companies . Inntalbahn (ITB) is a HOe narrow gauge linking various places in the lower Inn Valley . The railway survived because it had freight and tourism . In truth there was/are several narrow gauge lines together and I have linked together into various routes . pits allowed a lot of fun , using various models to creat this fantasy Bahn .

Timber

A second hand layout and a third hand modelling amateur. Still stock that had been stored for various lengths of time is finally moving as the layout is recommissioned in its new home. There is also a major change of location and era but we will get there slowly.

Well after 3 years of being mothballed as I have been working away from UK its time to come home and start on the ITB . I liked the idea of an Inn Valley Narrow gauge just inside Bayern across the river from the Austrian Tirol that kept going on freight before a real upturn in traffic with EU money rebuilding the system . With money spent on the railways track , stock is mostly second hand and even the liveries don't match , some how its all patched together to run the timetable . The local "lander" is still expecting a new passenger service and big things . Here is an image of the main station Oberaudorf , clearly a public open day showing the passenger stock ahead of the reopening .

Just started out on planning a Tassie layout . Just managed to get some OO gauge kits and it’s a narrow gauge system ! Anybody out there with a Tassie layout?

Just for info - a 502 was wider than a 503 (interior 3 plus 2 seating against 2 plus 2) ... if you seen then side by side (apart from front ends they did look quite a bit different - hope that helps .

Well with the track going down , the stock is being sorted . Bemo German steam locos were never going to be part of the roster at £500/600 of our Uk pounds . However one older version came up at the 009 shop and whilst still £100 , the chance to have a stunning 0-10-0 was too much . So it will join the other steamer on the north branch .

UPDATE --- Track down and wires soldered !!! 10 days after I started , 2 burn marks from forgetting about solder iron , 13 main fiddle yard lines , 4 holding sidings . 18 isolation switches all in place (see below). -------------------------------------------------------------- Ok its amazing how long these things take !!! So to recap ... Now we have a room , heating , security , lighting , power . Baseboards buit (not by me but by a great friend who did a stunning job) I added the dodgy woodwork that is the backscene and heath robinson cabinets underneath . Keeping it really simple like the real railway , points will be hand thrown (weird if powered on layout yet the real thing did not ) Underlay was free again from a friend in in place. Track in place on the shelf terminal (see pic) then the main two boards (town and station) Now the 2 adjacent fiddle yards A &B . But when I measured up there is just enough space just to make the front yard look a bit more like a terminal station . If the first line of the rear yard is freight then it looks a bit like a yard behind the station . So run into the two yards as the track come close together I have split visually by a church between . So a cheap kit has been amended to look more Austrian (still needs more work ) but starts to split the two yards . The junctions are in place , now a lot of isolation switches to go in as all terminal roads . Wish me luck !!!! See the pictures ...

Really good to have a break and depart to a friends house not too far away for an operating session . 4 hours running the timetable between 4 of us including the freight traffic so sort out . DCC was interesting . Good to use DCC but you really do need to know the stock numbers ! Working signals to drive between operates are a positive and freight rules are needed (a brake van is on the back!) Certainly hours past quickly and showed (for me) why the system needs to be developed to operate .

Hope this is helpful not sounding life a rivet counter !!!) Many fuelng points on model railways look "toy like " as they put the fuel point in the corner on the block . So you can only fuel one loco . BR allowed up to 5 coupled and it at least needs to allow locos in multi (x2) to visit together . They certainly add movement as you have to shunt on / off fuel road If you look at edge hill there was still lots of wagons about in the various yards in the 1980's and of course carriages in downhill sidings (still are) . You could also consider a "repaint point" for defects . There was a small one at Runcorn on the Up (now car park) even in the 1980's . Small space and you can put any vehicle (coach /wagon) in there for repair .

If your building it for Operational interest , have a think about era and whether it was a depot with fuel point or a stabling point (for train crew) . If its the later probably won't have fuel as that requires a fitter . So your locos need to run LD to Allerton for fuel or coupled up to x5 for a trip to Allerton . Speke Junction (steam) became Garston SP and we had to trip diesel locos back and forth to Allerton for fuel or service check ,etc . If Edge Hill remained open in diesel days , lots of crew to trip up and down to Lime Street for there work and don't want to loose all that lost "travelling time" , maybe gives you an excuse for an old DMU and short train crew platform (like Longsight) to get them up and down to Lime Street , just a thought

Part 1 --- Electrics again ! One way to create a diesel fleet in HOe / OO9 is to take a Roco 1099 electric remove pantograph cover recess add some form of exhaust port and you have a reliable mainline performer . Google some images and some when repainted look really good . Sometimes these conversations turn up on the 009 shop or Ebay . Here are a couple of images of some recently "rescued " locos that have been reconverted back to electrics by removing the diesel exhausts , cleaning up and adding pantographs . They look GREAT back as electrics again . What do you think ? The original fleet was 16 locos all on the Mariazell line in Austria and most have just been retired after 100 YEARS service by new units just 2 years ago. I am recreating the full fleet , well why not ... Part 2 --- Electric Holding Sidings - Lunzer See Well the track is going down on the home layout and the electrics come off at Lunzer See after coming from Mariazell (fiddle A) and replaced by diesels for the run to Waidhofen (fiddle B) . The electric goes into the electric holding sidings to await a return working , plus space for a spare loco stabled . The track is in place , isolation switches done and the posed photos of 2 locos in the sidings . Jay progress !!!! OLE will go up at some point ...

Somebody said to me always do some modelling , its all progress. So 3 seconds - added the timetables and the parking sign with a blob of glue (that is the back of Oberaudorf station ) So 2 new Austrian tractors for sale in the shed attached to the Warehouse 'Lagerhaus" . The lean too is agin from the scrap box and just some left over parts . Its true a lot of Fendt tractors are sold from such locations and I have plenty of these bought cheaply from a toy shop in Austria . I still need to add drainpipes and all this detail and weather but you get the idea. The many reason for the shed is that inside it is the batteries for the lighting and so I can easy get to it to switch on the village lights , etc (that will feature in another exciting blog !!!) So 1 Santa hides on the balcony as track starts to appear though the station !!!! Cheers all

Well given its Christmas here is my small exhibition layout based very loosely on Guesswork on the Mariazellbahn . It allows me to run HOe narrow gauge 1099 eletrcis plus various units and diesel haulage ... Its a bi of fun

So lots of jobs done over Christmas period . The kit building are all now built . Lots more to do but flower boxes now all added and it is coming on , slowly ! Building Lighting will come from a battery powered string of lights from Wilkos - £2 They will run in a channel in he underlay , with the batteries and switch in a garage building . The Ikea shelf has not had its base flooring cover of earth brown from a Wilkos £1 match pot . I know this is hardly Pendon but I have never finished a layout so its great to see this progress !!! The other imagine is the station loops at one end and the electric holding sidings . Again I am a shockingly bad modeller but the lines have isolation in place and soldering now in place. My soldering is dire but they are attached with massive blobs of solder ! I have also set up a test circle with my new Roco HOe train set track and controller and whilst I am working various locos are having a long overdue test run !!! Next Up some pictures of my Snowy exhibition layout and that test track !!! Cheers All "Marine"

So do you think that the story that the first one was painted blue in the works and rejected by senior management and repainted red in the factory with no photos ever taken ? i do have the model of 001 in this blue livery , this one is in the inntalbahn fleet given it looks quite Bayern Blue . I have been lucky to travel behind them on Ybbstalbahn , Mariazellbahn , and Waldveirtal .

So the diesels are locos from Stangl models as per Waidhofen shed allocation and Also St Polton Shed . as per the electric locos this allows proper diagrams for the fleet . Then there are a couple of fanasty special livery locos .