Georgeham

So a little further progress has been made. The track is currently in the process of being painted and I have also managed to reset a slightly problematic point motor (caused by my poor positioning). I have also managed to finish the first of 4 wagons that will be used on a goods train, delivering fertiliser to the goods line/diary. It is a 12t standard van from the Slaters kit and I am pretty pleased with the outcome so far. It is heading into the paintshop this week, alongside a rtr Dapol 12t van with Plywood sides.

Well a rather work intensive few months have passed by, but there has ben a little progress on the layout. It has been sporadic at best, but finally today the powerbus and points have been tested and the layout is now operational. The platform needs gluing down and the track painting, but a real relief to have trains running again. My thoughts - O gauge takes up a lot of room - it is all a bit of a tight squeeze but it works! I am using a NCE Powercab but have installed the Tam Valley booster (a huge thank you to Cravensdmufan for his help with this), which is all running on the Express Models DCC powerbus kit. All the soldering is now thankfully complete, although I do need to adjust the point motors (DCC Concepts running through an Alpha) - the rodding is bending when moving the 0 gauge points. However, that should be a simple job and I can move onto the more interesting bits of building the layout

Thanks both for your help - I think I have a work around for this now - am just going to use a single power supply

I am looking for some help regarding connecting a Tam Valley Booster to the NCE Powercab system. The booster is being used for an O Gauge layout. The Tam Valley Booster suggests adding a ground wire between the booster and the Command station (NCE Powercab). I am sure this must be a simple fix, but I cannot figure out how to attach the ground to the Powercab. Any help here would be much appreciated!

Thanks Julian - all slow progress but it is getting there!

I have made a bit more progress over the last week or so. The platform has now been painted and I have made another simple platform for the dairy. This means I can line the track up and get on with some track laying over the next couple of weeks. The goods/dairy platform will be flush against the backscene with low relief buildings - so it is a bit of guestimate where to position this without installing the backscene first. The passenger platform has a lot of subtle colour variation that just does not come out in these pictures.....(it is there honest gov!) The pub has also made some good progress and is nearly finished - it has an internal light fitted alongside some basic internal decoration. I need to finish the guttering off and a few other external details, but this should not take to long. Feel pretty pleased with how it has turned out. The pub and the platforms are the 'big buildings' - so with these done, track laying should make quick progress!

I have continued to make some sporadic progress on the layout. Firstly I got some track wired up on DC just to move a train around and check the rails and platform would all fit in. I have made some good progress on painting the platform and the base coats are done (a lot of pre-shading here) - ready for some detailing and colour. The pub is also coming along nicely - with the exterior largely finished. It is going to have some basic internal lighting and detailing - I have built a simple bar and some tables and today will fit in the windows properly and paint the interior walls.

Hi there - the platform is available from KS laser designs - it is a kit that you will scratch build a few bits for - but it is a solid base for the platform. Getting it straight is the main challenge!

So this week I have been working on the platforms I need for the layout. There are two platforms overall, one for the diary/warehouse and the second is a small passenger halt. The small passenger halt is built from SR concrete, typical of the withered arm. I have finished the build, save for the filing down of a few lumps and bumps of filler. Overall, I am reasonably happy with the platform, although working in 0 gauge - it is massive and it will not quite manage to squeeze in a two coach train!

The last few weeks have seen some good progress on the 0 gauge layout. I am about to start track laying - although I need to play with the track plan a little to make sure it will all fit in. I have added a curved board the end of the layout, giving me a total operating distance of 12ft. However, it is now sweltering in the loft room, making it too hot for track laying, so this will have to wait until later in the week. I have also made a start on the first building for the layout. The 0 gauge bug has well and truly hit....

Over the last week I managed to sort out the misbuilding of the 13t wagon - thanks to everyone for the pointers!! It did not take too long in the end (I hope!!).... I have also started to make a little progress on the layout - although I am waiting on the delivery of some points until I start this in earnest - getting a feel for the space, what will fit, etc. However, I have added a raised level for the track on some of the baseboards and have also made a start on constructing the platform and a few buildings, although there is a long way to go with these buildings So pictures of progress so far:

Hi James, a fellow north Devoner too (although I am currently away from the homeland!!). As for the Tom Horn baseboards - the ones I have just constructed I ordered a good few years ago and they have just sat around waiting for this project. However, Tim does have a facebook page and you can drop him a message. I do not know Tim (just a very satisfied customer) - but I have always found him to be super helpful. I just had a look at your layouts - there is some fantastic modelling there! In particular I loved Bratton Lane - if my 0 gauge efforts are half as good as that I will be very pleased. It would be great to see your progress on your 0 gauge layout. All the best Chris

Hi Robin, yes you are quite right - and I now need to add those too!! Luckily I had not started painting it in earnest - so I should be able to add these. I have just been building a slaters 12T van - which had got me thinking about the tie bars as well. You are right that the instructions not really showing it - but photographs clearly do. Another job for the weekend! Chris

Hi Hal - that is a great spot and checking some pictures I see exactly what you are saying. Thank you - the model has just been primed - but a job for next weekend to try to rectify this now!!! It is all learning - not sure how I got that one wrong!

So after several years of procrastination I have finally made a start on the 0 gauge layout. Yesterday I spent a very pleasurable day in the garden sunshine, with a beer in hand, to build the first baseboards. I had two Tim Horn scenic boards (top quality) - each is 4ft by 18 inches. I managed to get both of these finished yesterday giving me a running length of 8ft at the moment. However, I hope to add another Tim Horn curved board, to give me a total run of around 12ft. The layout is going to be set in the 1970s in North Devon, so ordering a Hymek and a Warship in 0 gauge seems necessary (and a tad expensive!!!!). The layout is going to have a rail served dairy and a very small platform (I have a track plan in mind and loosely measured out) - although I need to really get the boards assembled to see just how this will look. However, I definitely feel ready to take the plunge and make a start. Anyhow - here is the first of the scenic boards ready to think about track laying....

Hi Julian, This is the Connoisseur Models LNER skill builder kit. My dad built it - not a bad first effort. I think that I am going to give something similar a try too in the not too distant future. Hope all is well with you Chris

I hope everyone is keeping safe and well. I have made a little more progress on a few wagons recently - my old man has also recently got into 0 gauge and I got him a few kits to build. When he had finished his first one, I offered to paint it for him. There is a little more detailing to go here, but it is coming together now. I made a real effort to get a more realistic wood finish on this one, whilst not perfect, I am pretty pleased with the overall effect. Next jobs some varnishing and transfers.

A couple from my layout, based in North Devon.

Thought I might just add in some pictures of the engineering Sunday - on the North Devon coast! I hope everyone is staying safe and well during these difficult times.

Here is the Class 50 at Charlton on an engineers spoil train.

This week I have managed to finish off (nearly) the detailing of a class 50, some good old west country motive power. This is the Hornby model - well more like it is a hybrid of 2 of them - the original model had a faulty PCB board from new that I could not replace, so it has a chassis borrowed from another class 50, to enable it to run. It has had multiple coats applied to the body to achieve a little tonal variation and is fitted with a Howes sound chip (it sounds great!). It runs like a dream, with the fan removed. However, replacing the glazing and doors after painting the body shell was nothing short of a total nightmare (it tested my patience somewhat). The glazing needs replacing (although I can live with it for now - getting the body on and off is very difficult I find). I also need to finish the headcode properly - but overall I am pretty happy with it! It is seen here at Charlton station shunting some engineers wagons (a walrus and a whale wagon).

Well I said this was a slow burner project, however I did not quite mean the glacial progress achieved over the last year or two!! However, I have recently picked up the 0 gauge modelling again and have made a little progress on his 13t open wagon kit. I hope to get the build finished on this in the next week. I also have a little 4ft board, which I am thinking will form the basis of an 0 gauge micro (or at least a test run in this scale!) Anyhow, a little progress, hopefully more to follow soon!

I recently have finished a few more wagons for an engineers train, being repurposed 'Big Four' stock. I snapped the Class 45 on this train earlier, in-between the foliage!

A couple of years ago, when I did my first exhibition, a woman crashed a wheelchair into my layout and sent my class 45 to the concrete floor. In the two years or so since, I have been slowly doing a new model, to replace the old one, cannibalising a few parts etc. Today I managed to put the 'new' class 45 back together. I have given it a quick check over and it all seems to work fine, but needs a proper running session. It has Howes sound and a Road and Rails double Iphone speaker. It was caught at Charlton station c. 1979!

I hope everyone is having a great xmas! I have spent today running some trains and caught a class 37 on an evening passenger train, c. 1975, as well as a class 25 on an engineers trains early in the day.