Freight Connection

Many thanks for posting Grahame... Any chance of some Hedges Hill pics? There may be a few who haven't seen it. Have also been enjoying your recent card building posts. Regards - Steve

Very nice Stu, Some lovely work on the bridge and viaduct.. From #2....."I'll add some more photos soon & try and get everything up to date if anyone is interested"... I'm sure many will be.. Regards - Steve

Thanks Phil Yes... I haven't gone to town on doing the logos on the computer until I get the bodies right. At the moment it sits 'in' the wagon too much and looks a little thin. Bringing the sheets down flush will improve the proportions. The roof detail will be improved with frame work closer to the original. The transfers have ( I think ) been available in 00, professional ones would be better. I may still do them myself but would have to match the inkjet blue to the blue paint on the model. And hide the decal edges on the frame lines. Mine would also be lot thicker, I did some EWS tanker ones some time back, and had the same problem. Steve

Superb as always Simon I know the bridge has been up a while now but the detail from that angle is so good. Something to aspire to. Can see why Dallam attracts comments such as those at #1022. Regards - Steve

Hello again to all, Was really good to see some of the progress made over Christmas to layouts on here. The scrap wagons are almost complete save for a few overhead flashes and some matt to dull the loads down. Went for a general wash of browns, greys and metallic on the loads themselves. The tidemark from the ballast that almost reached the next county is evidence of over diluted PVA. A little out of practice but the follow up two days later has turned the ballast from a crumbling cake into concrete. Added the Farish hoppers to vary things a little, the remainder of the SSA kits will form an empty rake eventually The scrap is a little over scale in places but fairly happy with the results. The wagons will remain ex-works for some time, unlike the real thing Have fancied doing a couple of the hooded SPA wagons for a while now. Below is the first version, tissue paper covering allows for creases as per the original, paper strips form the frame underneath, all on a plasticard box. I lost the roof shape, compared to originals mine is far too rounded. The final version should look much better with the sides flusher to the wagon edges. Slightly thicker paper strips will probably be used next time, but learned enough from this one to hopefully make a reasonable copy of the original. Thanks as always for looking, and happy modelling for 2018 Steve

Nice variety on the buffer stops Simon, multi-storey looks really good in place too. Just had a good browse through your workbench thread, don't know how i'd missed it before Very nice work, thanks for posting. Regards - Steve

Good evening to all.... Got a chance to give all 5 scrap carriers a couple of coats of blue this morning. Brought the colours down below the solebar as per the originals. Have picked out the wheel operated handbrake and lower ladder in white. Applied the Railtec transfers tonight to one side just to see how it will look. Want a few heavily weathered and a couple lightly done as per the articles / pics I was working from. Also picked up two Farish HEAs to finish the rake. Limitations with the chassis I chose obviously, but on a dark night in an unlit siding I'm hoping those inaccuracies and the nail head for a handbrake would pass for an original wagon. Circled is the first version I tried by plating over the re bodied end, this can sit in the middle of the rake, if I was making more I'd go for sharper corners on them all and less liquid poly, but the masking seems to have been ok... A change in Jobs soon should give a more regular shift pattern and time to speed up the room move, this is meant to be a layout thread afterall and I'd like to show a bit more progress. The plan is still the same and I see it as a long term project anyway... Thanks as always for looking - Steve

Good afternoon to all... Change in shift patterns has given a little more time in the day, so want to get these wagons done. Have dug an old budget Expo type airbrush out of the loft for practice really, before spending on something more suitable...Bought this one some years ago for another pastime, a little clogged up but cleaned up well. Did a big enough batch to justify getting the hang of mixing / cleaning. Have got the correct blue ready for the scrap wagons, went for warning panel yellow for the ends and tops. The article and pic I worked from show a new wagon in ' Railease Yellow ' but happy with this colour. Was more about getting the paint on in light coats and thinned correctly. Went for the consistency of milk as a few write ups seem to mention. The 20s are recent buys (non / poor runners, both in green & one heavily over painted) Stripped in caustic, and going into large logo grey. Transfers all ready and plenty of real examples on the net to look at for detail. Thanks as always for looking Steve

Thanks for the views and likes... Am getting nearer to finishing the one below, it started out as Loch Long, and I pulled it out of my bits box a few weeks ago. The transfers have been tidied up and the red insulation tape nameplates ( Er I know) replaced... I'd chosen Loch Long because it was on a poster I had in the late 80s ( Possibly called the West Highlander ).. I was unsure of the number style so changed it to Loch Lomond recently. Have kept the original colours although I did wipe over the Tamiya blue with Railmatch. The dirt on the roof was a mix of white and ashtray remains at my parents. I was limited on funds and resources as I recall then. When a lot of my locos went down with split gears in the 90s the chassis was required elsewhere, and so the body was relegated. Paint quite thick and brushed on, but I was proud of it at the time so decided not to strip it...Still a bit to do but getting there. I chipped the original Farish headcode box accidentally, and so replaced them with transfers. Model on the right for comparison... Nameplates are 3D transfers from Railtec, I still cant comprehend the amount of detail on them. Other transfers a mix of Railtec and Fox.. Was advised to use Decalfix when I asked to buy Microsol / set. Happy with the results, I may try the others when I'm a little more skilled. Either way, they seem to have pulled down well over panel lines etc.. As the man said they would.. Light bounce, and difficult to photograph but the nameplate border is a nice even colour. Room a mess as I juggle work with clearing the loft and moving my hobbies to the spare room, but nice change from track laying / wiring.. Thanks as always for looking Steve

Good evening to all.. I picked up some SSA rebodied wagons from Slimrails a few months ago and finally got round to putting them together recently. Was going to do them in EWS as per the kit, but decided to try and keep them in the 80s / early 90s. And so have rebodied them back as it were. I'm working from a photo of a Barclays blue Standard Railfreight wagon in Model Railway Constructor from 1986. Have cut the detail away from the underside of a Peco chassis and added two wheel operated handbrakes ( Round headed nails ). Just need to add what looks like an air tank to the underside and am hoping it won't look too bad...My suspension is obviously very different from the original, i tried adding a bit of filler, but it was all too close to the wheels. A few other compromises i know, but with paint and transfers to come they should look reasonable... For the age of these wagons there must be a few articles around on modelling them but nothing was jumping out at me.. Except for a pic of a superb scratch built one in N. Anyway here are mine.. Er the front one ( Bachmann take credit for the other one) Showing the removed ends... Did try plating one over, but looked too bulky so rubbed away the main part to keep the top angle protruding and the outside angle on the corners.... Curved portions of plastic from the tops of milk cartons seem popular in a few articles on scrap modelling so went for that, along with the diced up Evergreen bits..Colour is still trial and error, it looked more like scrap gold and silver on Sunday... If only Thanks as always for viewing, will put pics up tomorrow of a 37 repaint that started in the late 80s Steve

Excellent Simon What it is it about trains overtaking trains ? Really nice to watch. Read back on your posts, and can't speak highly enough of the Railtec nameplates, they go on so easily. I was going for etched until I read an article on the business a few months back. Regards - Stephen

Good points, well presented. Only noticed the cantrail difference last night as I removed the numbers. Regards - Steve

Thank you both for the help... Was just going to pick a name and number last night until I noticed the doors. Will touch up the doors and choose a name.. Regards - Steve

Hi to all... I would like to renumber an early Farish 47. 47 487 has yellow on the doors as per the original, the only examples I can find have the body colours on the doors. Did any other 47s from that time carry the same door colours as the pic below. A named loco would be even better, otherwise a small paint job will be needed on the doors. Looked through a lot of galleries last night without success. Thanks in advance Steve

Glad to hear Graham Have not had the pleasure of having to open up anything later than Poole production so far. Really nice scenes / settings and varying camera angles considering the layout size. Thanks for posting Steve

I should get more time to work on the layout proper soon, as a short term contract comes to an end. Have also started preparing the spare room to take the layout upstairs. Have found an hour or so each night lately to get on top of the repairs needed. Nothing new below to seasoned modellers, but may be of some use to others...(With thanks to the sites who offered the advice taken below) Since the 90s when split gears started to show I've always had about a quarter of the locos sidelined, 3 went to a model shop near Abingdon early on, only to fail again later that year. And even with new gears in, three others ran hot and sluggish at about half power upwards on the controller.... It's only these last few years since i returned to the hobby with the wealth of information available that I have finally got on top of the problems. All pics below refer to Poole items, my newer stock hasn't racked up enough miles yet to cause any problems. All gears now get reamed out slightly with a Broach and go onto the shaft under much less stress..( NGS advice and others)...I seem to remember fiddling about with a small drill bit and no pin vice years ago. I did put a few lower profile wheel sets on some years back when they became available, but generally now prefer to leave the early models on original wheels... In my younger days I assumed motor faults for the overheats and didn't realise until last year that weakened magnets could be the cause / and replaced. ( Advice from the Farish Shed)... With good articles on there on the early types of magnet likely to fail. Neo or straight replacements have both given me about a 150mA to 200mA fall in current and am now happy to use either. Affected 3 locos no longer run hot. This one is down to age really ( And maybe over tightening & poor choice of lubricants 30 years ago)... Bogie retainers and tower just crumbled tonight on my first 37 Chassis.... Intend to replace the tower and keep the brass gears. Will have to model in a much smaller space soon, the following set up aimed to reduce test leads, meters and croc clips spread all over the bench. And give me something I could carry into the back room instead of working away upstairs all the time. Having the test track able to come forward makes it easier to see close up. I bought a 47 in RES some years ago from a toyfair and didn't realise until this week when it was up on the rollers that the worm and bogie at one end had never meshed due to poor finishing on the chassis ( Which is unusual) Easily filed down though... As I said at the top, no real layout progress at the moment. But the quality and ideas of others on here ( All gauges and eras) does keep my interest up. Regards - Steve

Looking good Graham.. I put a few Oxford Land Rovers to one side last year with some OCAs after seeing some pics, should look good with the armour on the Flats and Warwells. The lashings in N or 00 look a challenge to model and in N i'll omit them, I seem to remember ratchet strops and such like only being about 3-4" wide. I was just looking to add variety to traffic, but you've got such a large choice of loads you could model there. Regards - Stephen

I remember this in BRM and liked it at the time, just read through from the start and what a tale of perseverance. Very impressed, thanks for the update. Regards - Steve

Track laying continued today, trying to keep the number of pins down to a minimum and have started filing them down to make them less visible when the paint goes on. Previously the enamel would flake off the heads leaving large black dots, the heads are much smaller now and bare metal. Without any great pressure they almost sink into the sleeper without deforming it. Will leave them in after the ballasting to save crushing the sleepers. Have also glued the filler sleepers in at the track joins this time, the joins seem to look less clumsy now without as many pins. Will put the droppers down in the week, before deciding the best way to start the incline. Have left a generous gap between the main line and the branch in order to give me options with the masts. Thanks for looking - Steve

Great update as always Simon, really nice pics. A few gentle passes with a heat gun / hair dryer may help encourage it to go off, but three weeks does sound excessive. Regards - Stephen

Work is busy at the moment but finally got a full day on the layout. I'd somehow managed to stray from the plan and fit a curved point instead of a straight one, that was rectified first. The six foot was restored and the track work seems to flow a little better. Not intending any high speeds through this section, but in the first pic cups of tea would have been up the windows. Before After Sundeala does have a tendency to roll off at board joins and so have filled and sealed the board edge prior to ballasting, have kept the points a little further away from board joins this time. Points and track all tested on the first board and almost ready for painting / ballast. Once the track reaches the other end of the second board it will start to rise, that open space at the back will carry the storage roads up and over the end of the station. Thanks for looking - Steve

Fantastic.... You've got a licence to build almost anything ( As you well know) , ACME bird seed springs to mind ( Turned out to be Iron Filings ) just as the giant magnet got craned in to try and catch him, the list is endless. Watched so many as a kid, nice to follow this Regards - Steve

Nice spacious feel with the pics from the depot entrance, the grime on the other side and good length MGRs. Always look forward to these updates. Regards - Steve

Ideal space Jeremy, exciting times for you on two fronts. Repeating a previous post, 'Like' never gives this project enough credit. Best Wishes - Steve

All good Graham.... Was due to update this week, waiting on some neoprene sleeves for the wiring. Intend to fully wire up each section this time instead of revisiting later. Have standardised colours under the board and reduced the headaches no end. As before every single piece of track is dropped, solder obvious at the moment but I know from before the paint and ballast will hide it well. Will most likely go with Micro Switches for polarity. Nothing wrong with the Peco s/w but I know from experience they oxidise if the contacts are left for some time....Although it was years with mine! ( Easily prised open and cleaned, but a micro switch won't suffer the in the same way) Section switches are so 80s I know, but it's impractical / impossible to chip a large 80s/90s Farish fleet. These panels need to be thin because of the layout width. Will continue to add similar ones as I go. Have cut the long arm down, adjusts easily and is no load at all on the bar... I think on the Neely layout? the fiddle yard polarity is switched on top direct from the tie bar, would like to do the same. This was a mock up on a test board, a bit rough but panel pins and Araldite on 3mm ply, guaranteed not to slip. ( Need an afternoon to knock out a decent batch of them) I think "little and often" was the phrase I saw recently to progress a layout, and it does seem to help. I just set small targets every few days rather than anything too ambitious. Regards - Steve