KymN

Thanks. That makes sense. There is a sticker that says 'DCC & Sound Fitted', but not "TESTED: RC SOUND FITTED:03" I shall check with Locomotion...

My D-class arrived this morning. Mine is the Locomotion fully sound fitted version. I am blown away by its looks and detail - superb. I connected the tender, put it on the track without changing any settings and applied the DCC throttle. It was a bit hesitant at first but once it was moving it ran beautifully, and quietly. Unfortunately it was a bit too quiet - no sound. Am I missing something? Do I need to set something first? Any suggestions would be very welcome. Otherwise this is an exceptional model given the limited time that I have had with it.

Of course. It is part of the pre-convention tour for this year's convention. 621 isn't normally used on the Cockle Train unless special arrangements have been made. It is usually one of the Rx 4-6-0 locos. The real gem would have been 520 (in the picture I posted), but this is undergoing a major refit at present. It is said that Frank Harrison (the SAR CME at the time) saw an illustration of the Pennsy T1 in a trade magazine and said to his senior draftsman 'Draw me one of those'. The result was the finest streamliner that Australia has seen. But enough of the intercolonial rivalry...

...and we've got Pichi Richi and Steamranger here in South Australia, so there

I'm working on my Cornish Alps today. I'd better get back to it...

Some progress has been made. The 'exposed' parts of the Loop line (all but the tunnelled section and the Watery Bottom* viaduct) are now ballasted. However they need some tidying up, particularly in containing the cess. It has been a while since I have done some ballasting, and it very quickly became evident that the skill had departed over time. However it could be worse, and I feel more confident for trying. Here are a few pics: This is the section between the viaduct and the junction that leads back to Fal Vale, with a few ready to plonk buildings and vehicles duly plonked to make it look interesting. There is one strange wagon at the rear of the train - just an ordinary open, but lettered for The Southern Railway of Northern Ireland (SRNI), in which was set Oh Mr Porter! How certain buildings from North Yorkshire got there is down to aliens. The large green blob in the first pic is the polyfoam that will support the fiddle yard junction that will extend over the loop. ** Watery Bottom viaduct does exist, just south of Bath on the S&D. There is also a Scratchy Bottom in Dorset.

Fal Vale would show as a premature birth at this stage. However a bit of new focus would help muchly. Whatever, the convention is an opportunity...

Steeleye was one of my favourites very early in the piece, but I have tended towards Fairport, Albion and of course Richard Thompson. I have managed to see Richard Thompson (with Danny T) and Fairport a few times. We saw Fairport at The Basement in Sydney on their 35th Anniversary tour, when Sandy Denny and Trevor Lucas's Daughter Georgia was in the audience. I have only recently just realised that Trevor Lucas played a major role in Australian music production and film scores before he passed away too young. He lived just down the road from me in Epping. 'I was Only 19' was his work (and more) for Redgum, and Paul Kelly, The Bushwackers and many more. I guess that I've missed Cropredy.

I have been off the air recently. Once I got the track down on the Buggleskelly loop line I had to pay attention to more work on my patio/BBQ and to redecoration of my ‘Media Room’ or ‘Snug’ – a small space for my TV, HiFi gear and one armchair. This now restores access to my other British obsession – English Folk Rock music. English Electric Folk emerged up in the late 60s and by the mid-80s it had become a cult thing. If I am being too obscure, think Fairport Convention, The Albion Band, Richard Thompson, Fotheringay and the superb, if flawed, Sandy Denny. It has taken quiet an effort to get my audio-visual gear back in order. My gear is of varying age. I bought the speakers and turntable not long after I left school (my first major purchase), and not too long later the reel-to-reel tape recorder from the US Armed Forces PX in Vung Tau. Various items (cassette player, DVD) were acquired as the technology emerged. I bought a couple of tapes recorded by a bloke in a street, and I taped some Armed Forces Radio sessions ('Good Afternoon Vietnam!!). The TV is probably 30 years old (an early plasma job). The most recent is the Blu-Ray player, to replace a dead Samsung. In the end I adopted the ‘press each button and see what happens’ technique. The bookshelf contains the copies of Railway Modeller that Sue had bound because they were 'untidy'. The other book is Richard Thompson's new autobiography that I bought on the day that it was released in the UK a few weeks back. More recent music is getting worse, and this can be shown scientifically to be true (see Why is Modern Music so Awful? - YouTube). The lawyers' bookcase is to be used for a display shelves or micro-layouts. Having got seriously off the track with this missive, I have not abandoned model railways. I have the Friday operating/ reconstruction sessions with the two (non-British) groups I am now with, and BRMA layout visits every few weeks while COVID is sort of under control. We have the annual Adelaide Exhibition coming up in a few weeks, with all the required social distancing arrangements. I have volunteered to take a few shifts over two days operating Gavin Thrum’s latest masterpiece ‘Spirsby’ with Andrew Emmett's stock. Spirsby is an accurate to-scale version (i.e. not size adjusted in plan) of the former Spilsby station in the UK. Here are a few pictures by Caleb Jenkins and John Kalaitzis (They're better than mine!). Gavin will have a second, South Australian, layout next to it. The next step, after all the rush, is to get on to ballasting the Loop Line.

Progress! I now have a working Bugglekelly loop line that offers both DC and DCC functionality. The DC circuit includes the Relco ioniser unit that I now know works, and can be used (and has been) to start a stalled train! There is still work on the control panel to do though. At present only one turnout is remote controlled. That was chosen because it was set to the wrong road to complete the loop, so it was a case of necessity. Latching switches can't be operated by hand as you can a solenoid. I want to do some tidying up of both the wiring and placement of the panel. It doesn't have the finesse of many that I have seen on these pages. I filmed some trains running on the Loop with sound. I cannot see how to post videos on RMWeb, so you will need to take my word for it, although one is now on fakebook. One movie shows a WW1 train hauled by ROD locomotives with tank cars and flats/warwells. A couple of the loads are WW11 but that is OK. The other shows a Pennsy GG1, because it is the loudest sound-fitted loco I have! Next I shall ballast the track and perhaps start the land form. I have bought some artists' aluminium mesh and Modroc for that purpose. Electrickery is a bit stressful but I will get back to it. And I want to finish the benchwork in the hilly section with the tunnels and bridges. Stay safe. Kym.

The control panel for the Loop Line is is now in the early stages of functionality. I have successfully run a few trains on the antique analogue circuit - the controller is an ancient 'eda' unit powered by the 15VAC from an even more ancient Tri-ang power controller. I can cut in the Relco (the red switch) but am not sure that it still works! The DCC plug is to the right, along with the bank of DCC Concepts Cobalt-S switches. I need to complete the wiring of the switches (the most complex ever) because one of the turnouts is set to the wrong direction and to change it I need to find its leads under the baseboard and I cannot run a full loop as a result. The Loop Line has three turnouts - one to connect with Fal Vale, one to connect with Buggleskelly station and a third that services a narrow gauge siding. The other three switches are for Buggleskelly yard, which is essentially two crossovers and another turnout leading to a siding. Unfortunately the picture shows up the bad paint job on the panel. Among the trains that I ran was my new GT3, as yet unchipped. I tried it light engine and with a rake of Maunsell coaches. It ran beautifully - performance is as good as the appearance. However the coaches (with Fleischmann close couplers) are prone to buffer lock when pushed through the curves. That is not really an issue on a line primarily intended for running-in and small local trains. The main line through Fal Vale has much wider curves. Perhaps more importantly I had the first COVID shot today - Astra Zeneca. It didn't hurt a bit. .

Of course it does - more and more.

Then again, if I bought the Brown-Boveri 'Kerosene Castle' - which did run in the West Country - I could stage a comparison of the two to justify the GT3 out west. All I need is a time machine.

Fal Vale continues to accumulate stock that is totally irrelevant, ordered ages ago and is the result of a rush of blood to the head. In this case it is KR Models GT3. Why an experimental gas turbine express passenger locomotive would find its way to Cornwall remains a mystery. As I expect you know, the GT3 was proposed by the English Electric Company, and a prototype was built at its Vulcan Foundry plant. It was run, but never in revenue service. This is the first model of GT3 by KR models, a new company that specialises in odd trains. It is top quality in terms of design, build and finish. I have yet to run it! The prototype was technically successful, but costly to run - and rather impractical. It was configured like a steam locomotive, with a coupled set of driving wheels. This was because it simplified the transmission of power from the turbines to the wheels, and someone had figured that the buyers would accept something that looked like what they knew. The tender held kerosene, not coal and water, and the cab was carpeted. In fact the steam shape limited sighting from the cab, so needed a two person crew for that reason alone. In the meantime I have progressed my Buggleskelly Loop control panel. It is nearly ready to be fired up. Unfortunately several leads gave way in the installation process and my bad back is slowing things down. But we will get there soon. .

Just Bellerophon for me.

Not much news at the moment. After completing the below benchwork wiring for the Buggleskelly Loop Line I have started on the control panel. This will allow the loop line to be operated with DCC or analogue, selected by a DPDT switch. The analogue feed has been plundered from the controls for the Brighton Cross yard, which has now been reduced to point control only. In the meantime some new stock has appeared. This is a trio of Hornby's new 4-wheel coaches in GNR Teak livery. Yes , the GNR was a long way from Cornwall, but I like the teak. By a strange coincidence (?) of marketing, two manufacturers (Hornby and Hattons) have released similar new ranges of 4 and 6 wheeled coaches, typical of the Victorian and Edwardian periods. They are both tooled to be representative - not based on specific prototypes - and painted for various railways. Hornby calls theirs 'Generic', Hattons' label is 'Genesis'. The Hattons examples appear from photographs to be superior to the Hornby ones, but release has been delayed. Here are my samples hauled by 'Toby'. Same location as all the other pictures. I tried the Fleischmann close-couplers to reduce the gap between the coaches, but without a suitable mechanism on the coaches they won't go around curves. The rake now has one each of the Hornby and Roco close-couplers to at least reduce the gap.

From the pictures that I have seen, the Hattons Genesis product seems to be better than its competitor, particularly below deck and on the ends. I had two short rakes pre-ordered before the Hornby version was announced, and I have stayed with these. However I now have several Hornby GNR coaches in transit as well. This is down to (a) Hornby's ability to render the teak livery and (b) them being available now. It is going to be interesting to see how they compare in fact.

That's good but they have some solid competition now. The Dapol Mogul that I watched at BRMA meeting would simply stop (outright) on a slight grade if it had more than a certain load. We lost it in a tunnel!!

Things are moving slowly at the moment. But they are moving, even if my aging back isn't. Working under the layout is proving difficult. I only seem to complete a few connections each day. But I have dealt with the damage I did in converting the turnouts to be DCC-friendly, so the Buggleskelly loop line trackwork is complete (again), as is much of the wiring. Buggleskelly station is a future project. I will use Peco code 75 for that, but the local shops still lack supplies. I have not acquired much in the way of rollingstock lately, although I am interested in the 4-wheel and 6-wheel 'generic' coaches that Hatton and Hornby are producing - they will suit the Buggleskerry branch despite their lack of prototype. My 'protolance' ideas can accommodate this. While not a Great Western man, I do think that the Manor might have a place.. Unfortunately the poor performance of the Dapol mogul that has similar engineering has put me off their version.

According to several notable magazines the worst cameos that they see are buses on bridges over the railway.

John St E. I continue to be amazed at the amount and quality of your work, and the effort that you put into communicating it - as well as holding down a professional day job. I have been retired now for a few years and struggle to get just a small task completed most days .

Thank you. I saw the superb teak stock just two weeks away and was blown away. Time to move on I think. I have found myself in the midst of some real talent, and it means a lot.

I was wondering. I have seen some of the stock before, quite recently, and I don't think that Gavin would claim that any of the stock was his. But the layout is his work.

While I'm at the computer, here are a few pics of the layout featured at our local BRMA meeting held last weekend. This is Gavin Thrum's most recent masterpiece Spilsby (UK) station, long since gone. Gavin builds using card/brick paper. The layout is unusual in that the yard has been built to scale, with no compression. If this year's exhibition goes ahead this will be our (BRMA's) main exhibit.

I have made a little progress here. I now have a nicely coupled set of Maunsell coaches using Fleischmann Profi close couplers. This pic is from the dark side to show the outline. I will now proceed to equip selected other coaches with these, starting with the rest of the 58' Maunsell Rebuilt (Ex-LSWR 48’) Coaches. It also shows my present working environment 'under the table'. Unfortunately I can only work there for short periods before my aging body complains The car in the centre is the Hornby Maunsell Restaurant car, which is still a problem. The NEM mount in this coach is further inboard than the others, and prevents it from coupling to other cars with corridor connections. In this case I removed the concertina from the restaurant coach to solve the problem, but not very satisfactorily. Adjusting the NEM mount might be the way to go, or there might be a Keen Systems or similar soft concertina. Or stay with the Roco coupler, which is less of a droop problem here than on some other coaches The next pic shows the Profi coupling (catalogue pic). The coupler is a fairly precise device with several small parts. There is a pin that is raised by a ramp to effect uncoupling and can be seen projecting below the assembly, looking like, well, a pin. The top of this pin is a latch (which looks like a muscular arm holding a ladies' shoe) held in position by a spring on the right side of the coupler. It is possible for the 'latch' device to ride up over the spring, in which case the coupler won't work. Fixing that resolved the second problem I had.