gerrym

Hi everybody, After a very long gap of approx. 5 months!! I thought an update was necessary, since the last report I continued to concentrate on the wiring which in the long term proved to be a mistake. By utilizing the Peco controlled servos to operate the turnouts and all the connections required across the joint between the two boards and then to a separate control panel box via more connectors the wiring became a nightmare! finally it was finished and a test of the system was necessary, well as they say, nada, zero, zilch! nothing worked as it should have done. Many hours were wasted searching for faults to no avail so eventually the decision was made to start again! not just the wiring but the whole layout. I carefully unsoldered every switch, connector and length of wiring and all the servos etc. then stripped the track work and all the track underlay until I got back to bare smooth baseboards. I have now started again, the basic track plan is the same but a much simpler formation without any double or single slips and only four turnouts and servos required. Across board joints still have to be made but with much simpler wiring. The control panel will be much more straight forward and built into the back of the layout with out using a separate box. I have now begun laying track again which is a sign of progress and I have to admit I believe the layout will be all the better for being simpler, time will tell! Anyway that is the brief history of Shelva 1 now on with Shelva 2, hopefully I can report more positive progress from now on. Keep well and stay safe. Gerry M

Hi all, Well, it has only taken the best part of a month but I have the workshop building 99% completed, just the glazing to go behind the windows and a little extra weathering here and there. As you can see I went the full on 70's look! brown, orange, beige !! My first house when I got married looked like that inside!! The building was first given a careful coating of grey primer, I say careful only because the kit has some very fine panelling detail on the walls and low level brickwork and I did not want to blot it out with several layers of paint. The large wall areas were then spayed with Rover Sable Brown! How many years that had been sat on the garage shelf I have no idea, but it still worked. The lower level brickwork was painted with a very old but unopened tin of beige Humbrol enamel. It was about this time that bricks were starting to be manufactured in a far more varied range of colours that did not have the natural variations in colouring and were very precise giving a far sharper edge to corners and reveals etc. The roof was another tin of brown enamel which is a different shade to the side walls and then the window and door detailing was picked out in orange enamel. The roller doors were cut off to represent doors nearly fully open and then painted with yellow and black alternate panels. Yet another pack of Sankey scenics warning signs provided the safety signage at the entrances etc. being again self adhesive they are very easy to use and add a finishing touch. the building has been lightly weathered to indicate water stains on the bricks etc. but the model is supposed to be relatively new so not to much staining. So thats it for the workshop . more progress is being made with the wiring although I struggle with wiring and I seem to be soldering an awful lot of wires together for a small layout! Think a review of the wiring might be called for before any further work is carried out. There should be a couple of pics attached - hopefully. Gerry M

Hi Mark, Thanks for the feed back, the arches were painted with my usual matt enamels which have always been my favourite paints, I cannot get on with acrylics especially on larger surfaces as they dry to fast for my liking. The walls were given a thin coating of pale grey to colour the brick coursing which was then allowed to dry thoroughly. following on with the basic brick colours, a mix of deep blue and dirty black to replicate engineering bricks. I have found a source of very cheap plastic moulded painting pallets courtesy of Freestone Models that I put a quantity of each colour on to separately and blend them as I go, this produces a little variation across the surface. I apply the paint in the same way as you would weather a model, most of the paint is wiped off onto kitchen paper! However the secret is to apply the paint diagonally in each direction across the brick joints then you are not painting directly down a joint and filling it with dark paint. You will fill some of the joints but it does not matter as 150 year old brickwork will be far from perfect! To finish I have worked some dirty brown colour sparingly randomly over the surface here and there to bring in a little variation to the final finish. Once everything is in place on the model I will add some weed growth in places to make it all look a little more decrepid . Gerry M

Hi again, these should be pics of the arches! Gerry M

Hi all, After another long gap I can show progress on the scenery front. The electrics are nearly complete with the control panel carpentry complete but as yet to be wired. The stumbling block is how to replicate the track diagram on the white plasticard panel. marker tape or painted lines or even simple marker pens? Anyway, scenery, well I have used so far Wills plastic railway arches for the low level road tunnel under the track and Wills Modern industrial/retail unit for the wagon repair shop. I have been very impressed with both kits, they are well moulded and include plenty of optional parts to create variations. The arches required two kits which has left over a considerable number of spare components. Like wise the industrial unit required one kit plus the extension kit also available in the range. The spares will not be wasted however as the spares box is waiting to gobble them up for future use! I have built the tunnel entrance from some of the spares and created some workshop type arches with wooden doors. All in all I am very pleased with the result. Also after a little searching on the interweb I came across Sanky Scenics sheets of fly posters from the 1970s which are very thin self adhesive prints which has added some character to the brickwork. Very nice they look too. The workshop building has worked out better than expected. I wanted to have a structure that had two roads entering it and to be quite a large building to close off the far end of the layout as such. This will fit into the corner tight against both sides of the backscene. to achieve this I constructed the kit as effectively a low relief building. You will see on the photo. I have had to add various parts of white plasticard to make up height differences created by using side walls etc in places they were not designed to go! Also there is a large sheet of plastic along the back of the building to give it some stiffness and a false rear wall from some of the spares from the kit. without these the structure would just collapse , additional spares were used inside to stiffen the model up. I do not intend to model the interior as it will mainly be out of sight so these additions will not be visible. Next stage painting the workshop. I have painted the three components of the arches as I want to install them on the layout just to keep them safe as much as anything. The workshop needs to be installed as this will again add to the stiffness as it is still a bit wibbly wobbly! Also I find having one or two of the main structures fixed in place helps to finalise the rest of the layout by adding to the perspective. Hopefully there should be a pic. or two added. I will add pics of the arches on next installment. Gerry M.

Hi All, After a long hiatus an update on progress. After a great deal of thought I have settled for a separate control panel which will fix to the rear of the layout somewhere near the centre and connect with a D plug into a corresponding built in socket. The wiring beneath the two boards is now virtually complete, servo number 7 had to be mounted above the board after was found to foul the road tunnel wood work below track level. A slight miscalculation on my part! You will see from the picture it will be behind a scenic retaining wall in the area of the fiddle yard so not really a problem. The wiring looks a bit messy in places as there are unconnected wires still there for yard lamps and street lighting when they are installed. I have numbered marked under the boards just what is what in the hope of making maintenance easier in future, so long as I remember! Going back to the control panel, the box is built of 5mm ply wood but the top surface is a sheet of single sided copperclad which I am going to fix copper face down. this will enable any black common return wires to be soldered directly to the surface and reduce the number of tag strips etc. the top surface is going to be faced with a sheet of white plasticard which will have the track diagram marked on it. The servo switches I plan to position on the track diagram to indicate direction by the throw of the switch. The fan of sidings will have led lights in each track which will indicate which sidings are live or switched out. I think I will have finish the surface with a sheet of clear plastic to protect the diagram markings when in use. Next stage is to cut the ply sheet for the back scenes, the plan is to cut and fit the sheet to utilize the board joining bolts in such a way that the boards can fit together one on top of the other to form an enclosed box rather reminiscent of a coffin! This will both protect the layout and help with travelling in a car etc. Then I can move on to the interesting bit , the scenery! In the secret supply cupboard I have some nice back scene sheets that can be cut and shut create an interesting background and some modern multipurpose shed kits from the Wills range which can be mixed and matched to suit your individual requirements. these will form the wagon repair shop buildings at the far end of the layout. As I have mentioned before I have a small assortment of BR vehicles as used by track maintenance teams of the correct period, so the plan is to create a small maintenance yard at the front of the layout with Portakabin type site offices and materials. This should form a scenic block in front of the track work and the moving trains which hopefully will add some interest to the layout. Hopefully attached are some pics of the latest progress , I say this every time because I am still not sure what I am doing and its very hit and miss that you will see the pics!! Gerry M.

Hello everyone, Finally managed to get round to an update. Well the track is all down and glued in position. The final track plan is the one shown in the last two pics. and the initial wiring begun. All the through board wires are in place and connected to relevant tag strips, I have adopted the common return principal, black cabling, and red cable for the feeds via switches where required. Four servos are in place, two each for the single and double slips operating via a Smartswitch control board. The remaining three servos will operate via another control board mounted under the R/H layout board. Fortunately the various components for the system are available separately so there was no need to buy a whole additional box of components. Next thing to tackle is the control panel for the layout which will allow me to complete most of the wiring. This is where everything slows up. I cannot decide whether to have a separate panel box that fits on the back of the layout but would project into the operators space or a dispersed control panel with all the switches built into the rear of the layout but spread along its length which would mean the operator (s) moving backwards and forwards to operate. Most of my layouts have been controlled from the front which prevents the layout becoming a barrier from the viewing visitors. I am also planning to have operating lights in the yard area and some of the structures so switching for these will have to be incorporated in the panel also. Hopefully I will add some pictures to the next update to clarify things . In the meantime everyone keep safe and make good use of all the modelling time we now have!! Gerry M.

Hi all, Following Mikes earlier suggestion to create a fiddle stick/cassette behind a high wall at the rear of the layout I have basically had a complete re-think of the track plan. Instead of another turnout I have incorporated a single slip which will enhance the operating potential plus another turnout at the front of the layout to create a loco head shunt. A double slip adjoining a single slip seems a little extravagant for a yard of this size but it will make things more interesting! The area to the right not covered with foam board will have a high level retaining wall and possibly a row of properties above but not sure yet. The low level bridge/tunnel entrance is now constructed as shown, it will be finished as a low level arched bridge which would mean the bus shown would have to use the centre of the arch to pass through. I will add white restriction marking and yellow flashing hazard lights or traffic lights to enhance the scene. I am starting track laying tomorrow . After pondering on the dilemma of where to begin I have decided to fix the single slip in position first as it is located on the board joint in the centre of the layout. This will allow the track to be laid in sequence in both directions to maintain alignment. This also ensures none of the turnouts straddle the board joint! Attached is a photo of the layout which should make the track plan clearer Gerry

Hi every one, I have managed some more progress on the R/H board today, the roadway such as it is installed and extended under the main board to form the surface of the short road tunnel. this took some time to measure up and cut to fit but managed it at the first attempt! In the store cupboard I have stashed away a Peco Smartswitch turnout power system that I intend to use on this layout. Some of you may have already tried this system? I built a test rig using a spare turn out mounted on some foamboard and am pleased with the way it operates. the instructions are not crystal clear on how to set things up but that maybe me as electronics and me are not the best of friends! I also have a more than a passing interest in building R C model aircraft, consequently there is another store cupboard of servos, servo testers, cables, battery systems receivers etc. Using a servo tester you can centralise the servos which is quite important with this Peco system before you try to install and set them up. The set up includes a programmer that allows you to set the speed of the servo and the length of the throw depending on the track system you are using, all in all it appears to be quite a good product, time will tell. I will put more pictures on here when i have finished the two boards and then start laying track. The plan is to use 5mm white foam board as a track underlay, mainly because I have numerous sheets in stock! Has anybody tried this as a material. the main issue I see is the fact that if it gets crushed by finger pressure or whatever it stays crushed and does not spring back to a flat surface. Anyway, more anon. Gerry

Hi Mike , everyone. I have been thinking about your suggestion of an additional turnout to enter a single hidden line or even a cassette behind another high wall. Taking it a stage further instead of a turnout a crossover would allow a train to enter the layout through the double slip and into the scenic area. Food for thought? Hopefully attached are a couple of pics of the baseboards showing progress so far. They show the R/H board with the dropped front area which will have a row of arches with businesses and workshops in and a short vehicle tunnel that will disappear to the rear of the layout. the low tunnel position is indicated by the dotted lines on the board surface. The L/H board of the pair is just a plain box but I will show both again when the ply cross bracing is installed. I became a little concerned this afternoon as the 5mm plywood was warping to a small but perceivable degree while I was working. as you can see my work area for more industrial type work is the entrance to the garage! The weather was very good, warm but not in direct sunlight. After cutting the thinner strips for the front and rear of the boards they took on a distinct curve! Once fixed in place they were OK but I will check tomorrow to make sure. The nail gun approach is going well, much quicker than drilling a pilot hole, counter sinking and screwing. The only thing to make sure of is fixing two pieces together requires careful clamping of the work pieces after application of the glue. the gun fires with quite a jolt and it would be easy let two components slip and become misaligned. The gun I have is a Parkside mains powered tool, from those well known continental stores that sell anything, that fires staples or nails,,strictly speaking they are 25mm pins not nails as such. Hopefully more progress tomorrow! Gerry

Hello, Thanks for the interest in the layout, I think I did not make things very clear in my opening page. There are 2no boards measuring 810 long so the layout length will be 1620 mm . I think I am correct in saying that is too long for Ikea shelves plus a fiddle yard board which so far I haven't thought about yet! I managed to put a couple of hours in this afternoon and built the L/H board except for the bracing on the underside . The depth of the front, back and ends is 160mm which sounds a lot but the R/H board will have a change in scenic level at the front for a retaining wall with brick arches and a section of low level roadway just to add some interest to an otherwise flat layout! I have attached another picture of the layout plan which should be more readable, hopefully. The plan is to assemble the R/H board tomorrow and add a couple of pictures of progress so far. Gerry

Hello, In this strange world we now inhabit I decided to make use of the confinement to begin using up some of the accumulated material in my storage cupboard in the railway room. I usually model in O gauge, you may have seen my exhibition micro layout Queens Street Yard in the 7mm scale listings. Also I have a thread running in Narrow Gauge Modelling, ref Layout with no name, 7mm N.G. . Well, for a change I am beginning a new layout , again Micro/Cameo type in OO gauge. For a complete change , OO gauge , ready to run , out of the box blue diesels! You all know the story, you attend an exhibition and see a bargain and an idea pops into your head and before you know it you have returned home with a model that has no connection at all with your usual interests and it goes in the cupboard for future use! Well I have accumulated a Heljan Class 17 Clayton in BR blue, various engineers wagons, some Peco code 75 track and turnouts etc. Plus various structure kits. Add in my stocks of electrical switches, connectors, wire, point servos, tag strips and everything else and I have all the ingredients for another layout. In addition I have quite a number of the Base toys BR road vehicles of exactly the period I am going to model. The layout is at the moment called Shelva, I won't go into the reasons now. I like to make use of standard sized sheets of Plywood when building baseboards, it saves time. The boards are going to be good quality 9mm plywood for the surface with all the framing 5mm plywood. The board size is 810 x 405 x 9mm thick for the top surface and end plates. The sides and under surface framing will be 5mm thick ply. All my layouts seem to be an experiment, Queens Street Yard is similar thicknesses of ply all glued and screwed together, lots of screws! The N.G. layout is built of foam board, very light but rather fragile. This layout as I have said will be ply with Gorilla glue which is very strong but also fixed with a nail gun. I have begun the construction this afternoon and its much quicker than using dozens of screws! Hopefully i have attached a crudely drawn plan of the layout , which may well change! At the right hand end there will be a fiddle yard utilizing a cassette system, nice and simple. So that kicks off the new layout , I will try to add more as things progress. Cheers all, keep safe Gerry M Scan0013.pdf

Hi everyone, as they say more haste less speed! In the rush to add my post last night I forgot to add the pictures I was making reference too! With luck the pics should be here . Gerry M

Good evening viewers, well after a two month hiatus I have progressed this little layout a step or two further. All the previous pictures on this thread show the structures stood in position but not fixed in place. Now the three basic structures are glued in place which I must admit helped the stiffness of the layout no end. I have constructed the roof of the warehouse on the rear backscene, it still requires the tiling to be added however, which has made a big difference to rigidity, also more detail to the adjacent store building. That red paint I sprayed on the track was really annoying me as it looked so awful so I decided to cover it with stone setts at rail level. I used Howard Scenics embossed card setts cut to fit and follow the rail curvature. I have used this material very successfully on my standard gauge 7mm layout, Queens Street Yard, and it has done the job here . I was pondering on how to finish the setts so decided to use a sandy colour poster paint as the base colour (because that was what was in the cupboard!) and I also had in the cupboard a plastic box of about fifteen assorted weathering powders that were very coarse and not very good. Of these I used only two colours and stippled them onto the wet paint with a stubby thick brush in the hope that they blended with the paint before everything dried out, well the jury is still out on this. Very clearly more work is required to even out the basic ground colour before further enhancement is carried out. We shall see! The bridge /scenic break was originally painted in shades of grey which looked pretty unconvincing so that was painted in a similar way to the store building at the opposite end and looks more suitable. you will also spot next to the bridge are two gate posts, these will form the entrance to this tiny yard eventually. Funnily enough about a month ago I was having a big sort out in my railway room and nearly binned this layout as I was losing interest in it but had second thoughts after I had loaded the car with stuff for the tip! Fortunately it was the last thing to be loaded so no damage had occurred and it returned to the workshop! In the meantime A very Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy modelling New Year GerryM

Just thought I would add an update to my recent comment ref. a little piece of news, The Battery loco. is now painted and running , 99% finished, and completed its first outing to the Thornbury show this W/E. It was well received despite the majority of viewers not knowing what it was unsurprisingly! a couple of people knew precisely what it was and passed on to me some useful information which was great. The loco has some lead sheet packed into the central battery box under the chassis but needs a great deal more to be fitted into the body structure, it could pull one wagon or two light ones and that was it! I have chosen the simple route when building it and consequently it is only driven on one axle, two wheel drive. Without a lot more ballast it is not going to be very useful. Mind you I do not think the prototype could move a great deal more . You will see in the picture it looks very ex works and requires some weathering to tone down the newness. I will keep you posted of progress and pulling power!!

I have experienced similar problems to all outlined above. Some of you will have seen my thread ref. Queens Street yard no doubt, when all the stock was first built prior to the layout being constructed I may add! Everything was fitted with three links as I had always done. However the layout was very compact and with a lighting pelmet and framing it is effectively sitting in a fish tank. To reach in with a hook or probe to fiddle with three links was a step to far so a search was started for something more "automatic". I settled on Dinghams after talking to various layout operators who were using them but the problem then arose of fitting the magnets etc. I didn't want to start digging up scenics and track to accommodate them so decided to to make them "manual Dinghams" or as I call them Half Dinghams . I have fitted a hook without a loop to the front of each item of stock and a hook and loop to the rear of each. this means i have to set each piece of stock on the layout the same way around. I then uncouple each wagon or loco manually using a probe with a straight length of wire to lift each loop . Back to where I started with three links!!! It actually works quite well but problems arise with rolling stock of different manufacture with differing buffer beam heights. All my stock is kit built or scratch built and the discrepancies are surprisingly large between makers. I have exhibited the layout quite a few times now and seem to have to mess about with the coupling loops with a pair of pliers each time! I am still looking for the ideal coupling system which as yet does not appear to exist, Dinghams are better than many but are still dependent on being accurately set height wise as are Kadees. Gerrym

A little piece of news re QSY and I mean a little piece! Just completed building one of Jim Mcgowens new Midland Railway battery electric locos to run on QSY at Thornbury, it is just drying off in the airing cupboard after a good scrub with a kitchen cleaner and now ready for painting. It is very small , basically a open wagon with a greenhouse on top! Another excellent kit from Jim, however looks can be deceptive, the kit arrived a couple of weeks ago and a quick look through the contents and thought a week will see that knocked up. It is actually quite a complex model to build. To begin with it uses Slaters wagon wheels on 1/8 in axles, not 3/16ths as usual so you have to use 4mm scale gears and small motors to suit. I was lucky, in the stashed away cupboard was a small plastic box containing lots of old 4mm scale gems including a tiny Mashima motor and a 40-1 gear set. There are quite a lot of small detail castings but there are a great number of handrails and small etched parts to the superstructure which have to be lined up by eye and soldered into place. Net result several blistered fingers! Anyway the final result looks the part and with the addition of some lead in the body shell as it is only two wheel drive it will be just the job for shuffling a few wagons about. The only uncertainty is the colour scheme, the later BR scheme is easy enough and I have found reference to the LMS scheme but the time period for QSY is Edwardian which would be the original MR colours and numbers but that seems to be an unknown. If anyone has any info. on that it would be very gratefully received . Pictures will hopefully appear in a few days when it is painted correctly or not. Gerrym

Hi Nile, Thank you for replying, now I know it is not me! The rail I have used is Peco code 83 purchased many years ago at a narrow gauge event and it is soldered to copper clad sleepers . the rail was packaged in small bundles of about 8 or 10 lengths taped together with a Peco label stuck to it. Probably still available I expect. I have a free day tomorrow, managements out all day! hopefully I will make some more progress and post an update later on. Gerrym

Hi everyone, Looking back through this thread it seems that people in Narrow Gauge land are posting replies to the various pages I am putting on but i cannot see them! Computers and me are not close friends at the best of times but it seems that I may have pressed an inappropriate button at some time or not and cut off any replies being posted. If this is the case apologies to all, I am not ignoring you its just finger trouble! I have just spotted a tag at the bottom of the reply box "Notify me of replies" I have now ticked this box so hopefully I will be able to see any responses you may post! apologies all round but I am not very good at this forum malarkey! gerrym

Good evening again, Not much has happened in the way of progress over the last few days, I have been building one of Jim Mcgowens new battery locos for my Queens Street Yard cameo layout as it is just the thing to push a couple of wagons about. So I have decided to add another photo. of the scenics so far . this also gives a better picture of the wagons I will be using. The wagon turntable as I have said earlier should work using a servo or something similar. which will allow the small 4 wheel wagon to enter the warehouse just about. The 4 wheeler is a resin kit and for the life of me I cannot remember who made it! The two WD wagons as I have said are Wrightlines whitemetal kits which are fairly weighty ,also the axles do not have any form of bearings so they just run in the whitemetal cradles cast in the bogies. I am not sure the Hunslet will move both of them together! The next part to tackle is the ground works as the red paint is really distracting me and just makes things look awful! The jury is still out about the bridge over the fiddle yard exit, suggestions on a postcard please? Hopefully more progress next week.

Hi everyone, Just a quick update on Queens Street yard, the layout has now been to quite a number of shows which is great and nice to know well received. No real changes have occurred apart from the addition of a couple of LNWR 4 wheeler coaches built from some old etched kits purchased from NMRS. These have various names etched into different components so their origins are rather obscure. They are models of really early LNWR coaches with external roof ladders and oil lamp fittings along the roofs! Just the job for QSY! Unfortunately I had a melt down painting them. they were primed in grey, so far so good, I then sprayed the top halves in LNWR white and then lower halves in coach plum, all Precision Paints. Following on with the panelling in plum using lining pens. No problem, having been trained as a draughtsman with ink on linen using adjustable pens many decades ago. Well, absolute disaster, the finished job looked appalling even before I attempted the gold lining around all the panelling! Everything was given a dose of paint stripper, after a few stiff G and Ts I was ready to start again! I then discovered purely by accident a little known railway company that used second hand LNWR coaches as their passenger stock including these particular 4 wheelers. The best part of this discovery was the livery - plain dark chocolate brown with white roofs! hands up who has heard of the Wrexham Mold and Connah's Quay Railway! Funnily enough this railway was situated in the middle of LNWR territory, - problem solved! A spray can of precision GWR coach brown and some appropriate lettering and the job was done. In addition a MR Sleeper wagon has been added to the roster complete with timber load tied down. Currently I am building a new loco for QSY, a Battery Electric Locomotive, this is a Connoisseur kits model of the MR Battery locos built for use in a MR coal depot in East London in 1913 basically it looks like a open coal wagon with a greenhouse built on top! Its small size is just the job for this layout. it is still under construction but should be ready shortly. The next show I am attending is the Thornbury club show over the W/E 16th/17th November 2019 , that is the deadline for the battery Loco! If you can get to the Thornbury show please come and say Hello! Gerry M

This evening I decided to show you the reason this layout has come into being. I had long been a member of the 7mm Narrow Gauge Association up until about 5 years ago and had shown layouts at the AGM and been lucky enough to have won several trophies for competition entries always in O16.5 gauge ( 00 gauge track) . I had built several NG locos from the Agenoria etched kit range at the time when they were still being produced by their originator, Pete Stamper. They were an excellent and very detailed range of models but quite complex to build due to their small size, lots of small detail and rivets etc. At this time 14mm gauge was beginning to come to the surface producing a more accurate type of track for 2ft gauge, also at this time Roy Link was introducing a range of components to produce industrial track panels and wagons etc modelling the Hudson industrial systems. This was too much to ignore so another Agenoria kit was obtained, a Small Hunslet 0-4-0 as used in the Welsh slate quarries to be built to 14mm gauge. The loco was a test of soldering skills to say the least, very small coupling rods, cylinders etc and tiny fire box details. I was very pleased with the end result though and a start was made on a small layout . I built several turnouts and lengths of track from Roy Links templates which again were quite complex because everything had check rails! That though was as far as it went. I then discovered standard gauge modelling in 7mm scale which was much kinder on the eyes! The little Hunslet never even had a test run! but was put on the shelf along with several other false starts, sad to say. A recent discovery of the Hunslet packed away in a cupboard was the starting button to have another go at 14mm gauge! As you can see in the picture it is tiny especially with the driver standing on the footplate, he is actually a pedestrian from the Pheonix range of figures, I thought he looked very Welsh as a driver! The Small Hunslets were very varied in their details and fittings, I modelled this one on "Holy War" which worked in the galleries in the Dinorwic Quarry if my memory serves me right. In the picture you will see a couple of wagons also, these are Wrightlines kits of WW1 War Department bogey wagons which are nice models and quite heavy as they are white metal.

I thought I should show you progress with the scenic side of things. I have constructed two warehouse facades to go into the left hand corner of the backscene, again from the ubiquitous foamboard but faced with embossed plastic sheet. the stonefaced building to the end panel is supposed to be the original building with the adjoining warehouse constructed of brickwork to represent a newer extension. I have found that a satisfactory method of sticking the plastic sheet to the board is using plastic solvent brushed into the joint despite sticking the material to card faced foamboard and not another plastic surface. By starting at one side and spreading the solvent across the piece as you press the surfaces together it seems to hold. You have to work quickly because the solvent evaporates off very swiftly and you must be careful as solvents attack the foam core of the board which leaves you with an empty shell if you are not too careful! The windows and doors are a random selection from a very large bag of plastic mouldings bought at show years ago for £10.00, I still have over fifty assorted doors and windows left in the bag! It's amazing what you can find at shows especially the more specialised ones. The brick faced building has a steel type staircase up to the first floor , this was scratchbuilt from Evergreen plastic components and items from the "sparesbox" and plasticard. I am a notorious hoarder of spare parts from kits, off cuts of plastic sheet , spare castings etc. They will all come in useful one day! The wagon turntable is a kit of resin moulded parts with a ball race under the table which makes it spin very smoothly, again from the sparesbox after lurking there for many years. At the other end of the baseboard the exit to the fiddle yard is disguised by a road over bridge, not very original I know, again from foam board faced with embossed plastic sheet. This may be reviewed before it is finally positioned and an alternative sought.

Following on from yesterday here is a picture of the underside of the board showing the tortuous wiring. Also the point control rodding is visible. The power for the layout is via a cable permanently connected to a Din socket which receives a plug in handheld controller. I use a power box which sits on the floor with 2no transformers in it of different voltages. I built this box a couple of years ago as a power source for any layout I decide to build. I don't like taking chances with old transformers and lashed up wiring. This box has been PAT tested and checked over so I know its safe to use!

Good evening all, Having seen some postings here about 14mm gauge modelling I thought I would introduce a new micro layout I have begun building. As can be seen from the heading it is anonymous at present! This layout is an experiment in new materials, whether it proves viable remains to be seen. The base board or box is all constructed from standard 840 x 600 x 5mm thick sheets of foam board, these dimensions have determined the length and width of the box. The three sided box is reinforced underneath with strips of board to give sufficient depth to run the wiring. This has resulted in a very light structure which is great but how it will stand up to transportation and handling remains to be seen! The first problem that has become apparent is after I painted the back scene with emulsion paints the board began to curl into a shape that was anything but straight. I should have known this because I have experienced this in the past with this material. More haste less speed as they say! This has been largely rectified with a coat of emulsion on the outside which has pulled it back into shape. The trackwork is handbuilt using Peco code 83 ? rail soldered to some old ready cut EM gauge copper clad sleepers that were stashed away from another project that never went anywhere. The turnouts were built using templates I have drawn up and some gauges purchased many years ago from the Roy Link range of 14mm gauge kits of industrial railways. As will be apparent from the photo's the track plan is basic to say the least but there is not much space on a board of this size! Ignore the lurid red colour on the board, this was just red primer paint sprayed on the track to colour the rails before the scenics were started. As you will notice in the first pic. there are two cutouts in the top surface of the baseboard, these are for the sliding switches for operating the turnouts mechanically. They are operated by rods in tubes by the switches which also change the polarity of the crossing as they are live frog turnouts. you will also see a wagon turntable at the left end which will be powered by a servo to turn 90 degrees to face warehouse entrances. As you can see there is an opening turn the R/H side of the backscene, this is the exit to the fiddle yard which as yet i have not even thought about. The wiring is my usual spiders web of wires based on the common return system with black wiring and the live wiring in red. I have not bothered with isolating sections as there will only one loco on the layout at a time. The wiring could no doubt be rationalised by someone who knew what they were doing but hey ho it works. I will follow up with more information and photos shortly as things progress. I have begun the back scene structures and painting there of but further work is necessary before they are installed. Gerry M