tom shaw

Hi Marcyg, 60009 was never named Osprey. LNER no. 4494 was named Osprey from new in 1937 and following a couple of renumberings it was renamed Andrew K McCosh in 1942. 4488 was named Union of South Africa from new (1937) and was never renamed, it became 590 in 1946, 9 in 1947 and 60009 when BR renumbered in 1948. Regards, Tom

Little Easington-on-Thames ! Regards Tom

The coaling stage has been weathered over the Easter holiday. Firstly mixes of various browns were roughly added: Then a light grey was dry brushed on to blend everything together. I think a very thin wash of black or dark grey will be required to finish off but I'll let it dry for a couple of days before I do that. Tom

Now that is good Regards, Tom

Thanks Trev, my J27 doesn't have a sound decoder fitted yet but for others I have mainly used Loksound chips with files and speakers from Olivia's. I recently modified a Dapol J94 into an NCB austerity and managed to fit in a Zimo MX648 micro sound chip and sugar cube speaker, it has a mainline setting and a shunting setting and I'm quite impressed with the sound quality. As for the sound files themselves I'm not too pedantic about them as I only have a very vague recollection of the real thing and each engine had it's own personality anyway, so long as the cylinders and wheel arrangement are the same. The Q6 uses a Super D 0-8-0 file from Olivia's, probably completely wrong but it sounds good to me (I asked for the wheeziest one they had). When I get round to sound-chipping the Hornby Q6's I will try the YouChoos version for one but would look for something else for the other so it sounds different. Regards, Tom

Some progress on the coaling stage Everything needs dirtying and rusting of course and a couple of water cranes adding but it looks quite good on the layout and makes a nice backdrop to the yard and shed. I've had to add more corrugated iron to the ends than the prototype South Blyth had but this was to hide the internal supports for the roof. No two stages seemed to be the same so I'm not worried too much. I'm hoping to start working on the layout again now the weather is improving. I have heating in the garage but for some reason I don't like working in there in the winter, must be a mental thing. Regards, Tom

Very neat Brian, looks the part Tom

Spot on Brian Regards, Tom

Some progress on the coaling stage. The corrugated iron is Slaters plasticard. I wanted to use the Wills version but it was too thick so rather than thinning it I went about making the Slaters one look like the Wills one. Needs some heavy weathering which I'll do when the rook and ends are made. Tom

Brian, I'm inclined to agree with you on the pink wall, the railway would have used local stone - probably sandstone in our area. Have you tried the weathered stone from Scalescenes (called dark random ashlar). Looks very familiar to me as a "sand-dancer". Incidently, when I'm frantically searching for a clamp I will know who has them all. Regards, Tom

How about Kadee's between coaches, you can mount them to couple quite close and there's little slack when pushing/pulling. Your layout is fantastic by the way and some of the best model photo's I've seen, in fact it's sometimes hard to tell it is a model. Regards, Tom

Great stuff Brian, how about a slice of Durham for inspirational cranking and curving ! Regards, Tom

First post for a while and due to a bad back, work and other excuses I've not been able to work on the layout. However I have finally made a start on my coaling stage and thought I would post a couple of photos of the progress so far. The first photo shows plastruct H section columns cut to length and stuck to backing card top and bottom to keep everything square. Also shown are the brick infill panels which will be covered in brick paper and slid up into the column webs, once the windows and cills etc. have been added. The card is about 1.5mm good quality mounting card from an artists supplies shop. The second photo shows the infills in place with sides and back also attached (nothing glued yet). The arches in front are cut from scalescenes arch and window surrounds and the windows have been cut to suit these arches. The large arch was scaled about 92% when printing to give an appropriate width. The window on the right has been cut out but the blank is retained and will be covered in a newer brick than the rest to represent the window being bricked up at a later stage. The base will have a top and cross-pieces for strength which will get rid of the slight bow. See prototype photos on page 1 (provided by North Eastern, thanks Chris) and sketch drawing on page 2 Regards, Tom

Great pictures of a fantastic layout Tom

I like perusing old-maps.co.uk so it sounds fascinating, I'll have to go sometime. Tom

That's looking great Brian, not far off being finished - wish I could say the same for mine. I'm drawing inspiration from your efforts so keep it up. Regards, Tom

Nice solid engineering, I like the idea of having the points on the table giving maximum flexibility Tom

A couple of photos showing recent progress. Track on a couple of boards has been sprayed with sleeper grime and ballasting started. Ballast is Woodland Scenics fine cinders applied in the usual manner. The ballast is carefully placed using a folded business card which is lightly tapped to deposit small amounts between the sleepers. When about a 6 inches of track has been done I spray it with water with a drop of fairy liquid added using a fine atomiser. I "won" the atomiser in a christmas cracker a few years ago but I'm sure something similar would be available from a pharmacy. The fine mist wets the ballast without lifting it away from where it was placed. A 50/50 mix of white PVA wood glue and warm water (again with a drop of fairy liquid) is then applied to the wetted area using a plastic pipette, I have posed my 9F and model of Green Lane (Tyne Dock) signal box for effect. Must finish the signal box one day. The engine shed now has its third attempt at a roof. I used super quick tiles but this time I cut into strips of two tiles deep and overlapped one strip over another. Time consuming but it gives a much better effect than previous attempts. Roof lights are done but not attached yet. Guttering and downpipes will be the next job. Tom

Beano, Dandy or other ? (Beano man myself) Tom

Brian, goes really well with the backscene. Possible pub names: The Locomotive The North Eastern The Station Hotel Regards, Tom

Yes of course, Nimmo's from down south (south Durham anyway). Tom

Nice job with the pub Brian. Will it be Vaux or Scottish & Newcastle ? Regards, Tom

Thanks again John, this looks very interesting and worthy of careful study Tom

Thanks John, I have that issue and it's where I got the idea from, being a bit slow I need things spelled out more and I wondered if there was a blow by blow account of Dave Bradwell's system or one like it. The article mentions that it's more of a USA way of doing things so perhaps I should search their knowledge banks. Tom

Thanks Chris, The layout is basically a double track freight line feeding a yard so there will be arrivals and departures with plenty of shunting in between. No need for continuous running and several trains can still run independently to a sequence. There are plenty of off scene tracks where trains can await a road onto the table. Tom