Johnson Street IEMD

Ahhhh but there's the issue of operational access ... working 90s can go anywhere under the wires, 92s, those under DB can't operate on the English network at present, so the 90s still win, even with their reliability issues. Skodas > Dysons

The layout project currently finds itself at a red signal. A bit like the DB90s sometimes, held for what must seem like eternity, the good thing is that I am never short of inspiration. Also like many of those of us who are watching on with interest at all things @Accurascales in relation to the impending Class 92 which will further enhance the electric traction offer to OO gauge modellers. I look forward to getting my hands on one of these, having had a few of the poor relative in the form of Hornby's alternative before the stakes were raised by Bachmann. Until my pet project can fully get going again I am taking the opportunity to add bits and bobs and sort those things I need, like the PECO catenary wire sets, I am planning to give mine the green look like those seen at @making tracks2 earlier this year. And if along the way, other stuff is found in the treasure chest that is Ebay, well, all the better. When the late great model builder @amertonman passed away recently, my nBrass OLE kits appear to have got lost in the packing up of all things at his place - hopefully they'll reappear in the coming weeks so I can get on with becoming a soldering whizz. Kat @JohnsonStreetIEMD

I have just found myself adopting a NEW member to the DB90 stable at Johnson Street IEMD, having wandered round the Stafford show without seeing anything which really tickled me, aside maybe Preston Model railway's OLE layout - thank you to the gentleman who gave 90030 a run around, light engine, and also the Locomotion Stand where the Bill' exclusive (90028 in DB Cargo red, named Sir William McAlpine) was also on show ... however it was something slightly different which caught my eye - and all will be revealed in due course once a certain weathering and renumbering expert has worked his magic. My question is, do the new batch of 90s have to use the newer Bachmann 90 dcc chip ?

If that's what the Rail's exclusive box is like for 92023, I'm thinking the YIWU 92015 box will also be pretty special 😉 also .. given the cultural significance of the role of the 92 with the silk road ..

Following a resolution of the defective OLE at Daventry DIRFT, the DB Cargo Class 90s have returned to duty, 90024 and 90035 on standby at Mossend are now heading down the WCML on 4M30, here, 90026 and 90034 are on 4S49 heading north beyond Crewe bound for Grangemouth in the early hours and 90s, 90029 and 90037 are on standby at Mossend to do 4M25.

Following a resolution of the defective OLE at Daventry DIRFT, the DB Cargo Class 90s have returned to duty, 90024 and 90035 on standby at Mossend are now heading down the WCML on 4M30, here, 90026 and 90034 are on 4S49 heading north beyond Crewe bound for Grangemouth in the early hours and 90s, 90029 and 90037 are on standby at Mossend to do 4M25.

I am not a current Heljan Class 86 owner but i've owned several of the predecessors and a few tailored Hornby EWS 86s as well - I plan to have the Cally Sleeper liveried one in WCRC operation and maybe at a push the LSL 86 (86101). One might say I am too busy presently with my Bachmann DB90s: 86259 86401 arriving 86401 departing These above are footage of 86259 and 86401 recently on those stand-in services through Stafford

20th September 2022 Following a lovely livestream from Rachel and Shaun of Angel of Crewe Youtubers - This is a bit of a taste of what Rachel and Shaun get up to when they aren't modelling in N or OO gauge ... known on here by @Mini Wistaston junction alongside the West Coast mainline where they plugged my channel a little .. I decided to do a bit more of an up close and personal layout tour now my layout is back home, about 80-85% done, maybe I should have said 90% done LOL.. well, anyway, here goes: Enjoy !!! Kat @Johnson Street IEMD

13th September 2022 Following the sad passing of good friend, modelling right hand man and West Coast mainline Enthusiast Ian who went back by the username @amertonman last week , the layout has returned home to its rightful place, its about 90% completed in the main. The OLE still needs to be plumbed in and the fiddle yard track still needs to built and set up but this latter aspect was always going to be some way down the line. A programming track is also part of the plan as well, given that Johnson Street IEMD is going to be layout which sees lots of different loco mixed consists. A good number of members of the modelling community of Staffordshire are feeling the effects of a truly wonderful man - and will continue to feel this loss for many months and years to come. Having the layout make the short journey across the County town of Staffordshire, there has and still is alot of stuff relating to the build to sort out, i have set up the layout, without being fully operational to see what's what etc etc. Railwise, it appears the real world Malcolm and Multimodal are back together, being back out on 4S47 last night: Stafford station was busy as there was a Steam Railtour in on Platform six the DB90s, having been paired together back in 2016 just after they had their new colours Malcolm Rail and new style DB Cargo red respectively, 90028 and 90035 followed 90019 into this colour scheme.

With the end of the Making Tracks event approaching and with the unfortunate absence of @amertonman I dragged the other half along to Chester Cathedral along with 90026 and 90034, ironically, this pair are currently on duty with Malcolm Rail, although, truth be told, I don't think they ran over the weekend, hey, I think it would be okay, right, so off we popped, two Rail enthusiasts, two Skodas, a shed and a Ford fiesta.. nice 😉.. okay, so the Shed never made it out, oh well never mind: If you are thinking of going along because you have never been or you missed it last year why not pop along, Pete Waterman and the team are great, they have even more tech this year including hand held wireless controllers so literally anyone can drive a train.. brilliant.. you can bring along your DCC fitted locos as well... and it's only £2.50 for a great day's entertainment. Sooo I hear you are saying how can I go along ? Find Chester Cathedral on Google maps, you can park and ride by three different car parks https://chestercathedral.com/event/making-tracks-2-2022-07-19/2022-09-03/ https://www.visitcheshire.com/transport/boughton-heath-park-and-ride-car-park-p257311 If this weekend is no good, it's understood this layout is next going to Milton Keynes for the Great Electric Train show on 8th and 9th October 2022 https://www.keymodelworld.com/greatelectrictrainshow

Hey @NXEA!, there's a Bachmann Greater Anglia Class 90 on ebay right now a little while ago, it was someone on here who told me that Olivia's trains had a Malcolm Bachmann 90 for sale, at the time I didn't know where it had come from ... but i couldn't let this chance pass so I duely snapped it up - thank you to that person ... it's still my favourite 90, even though, like the model, the real world example needs some touching up ... Kat :-)

Thing is pet ... that doesnt look anything like any UK mast ... and when trying to replicate the actual thing, the devil is in the detail.

There'll be at least one or two DB92s coming and going from Johnson Street IEMD once the layout build is finished and the plan is to take it to Stafford show. The DB92s as per current affairs will part of a mixed consist featuring DB90s and a 66 or 67 ? just like this:

Yesterday, i was able to give my newest Johnson Street DB90, Backbone, a guided tour of a friend's layout known as Rose Heath

Last year I used the Bachmann KFAs at Making Tracks ... With Multimodal going ''Solo''

Nice one .. I hope to do something similar with my DB90s, like the below with my two besties:

Tom, I dont think anyone is sniping at anyone else ... Model Railways Direct do still have some DCC Sound 90s at #230.00 ... (their green freightliner 90s are this amount) i think its a case of catch them while you can - some of us and I include myself in this, have to shop around as we don't always have huge loco budgets. I have popped the link for this below for you: https://www.modelrailwaysdirect.co.uk/locomotive-diesel-electric/Bachmann-32-612asf-class-90-90041-freightliner-green/ I've just swapped out the sound in Multimodal and popped in to Backbone but I too will keeping an eye out for deals like the above in the future. Happy modelling !! Kat :-)

Does anyone know why Backbone was going to Toton ?

Loco update - 14th June 2022 Latest DB90 at Johnson Street IEMD As soon as it became apparent that 90021 wasn't going to be seen out on the network in First Barbie Scotrail, it was always going to be a matter of time before she departed Johnson Street IEMD. Then, in a short period of time we were introduced to two DB/EWS era Class 90s from Bachmann, firstly 90028 in DB Cargo red and following on from that 90030 in EWS. With 90028 "Bill" already in the stable already and 90030 being slightly out of my era, it was always going to be something different to the above examples which became my next "red" Skoda. With that along came an opportunity to add 90039 in "I am the Backbone of the economy" to the DB90s based at Johnson Street IEMD. 90039 liveried by Rainbow Railways joining fellow Rainbow inductee 90024 in Malcolm Rail and also pictured 90034 in DB Blue. Backbone, post Rainbow introduction has gone on to get named seen below on test at Stafford Station and also has a Freightliner-ish orange tipped panto and is weathering away from perfect but other than that is looking pretty good.

Loco update - 14th June 2022 7th DB90 at Johnson Street IEMD As soon as it became apparent that 90021 wasn't going to be seen out on the network in First Barbie Scotrail, it was always going to be a matter of time before she departed Johnson Street IEMD. Then, in a short period of time we were introduced to two DB/EWS era Class 90s from Bachmann, firstly 90028 in DB Cargo red and following on from that 90030 in EWS. With 90028 "Bill" already in the stable already and 90030 being slightly out of my era, it was always going to be something different to the above examples which became my next "red" Skoda. With that along came an opportunity to add 90039 in "I am the Backbone of the economy" to the DB90s based at Johnson Street IEMD. 90039 liveried by Rainbow 🌈 Railways joining fellow Rainbow inductee 90024 in Malcolm Rail and also pictured 90034 in DB Blue. Backbone, post Rainbow introduction has gone on to get named seen below on test at Stafford Station and also has a Freightliner-ish orange tipped panto and is weathering away from perfect but other than that is looking pretty good.

5th June 2022 A brief running session was had today with the magician @amertonman to discuss the progression with the layout. The magiciam's wand has been playing up of late so one hopes this gets rectified soon. A couple of clips from my YouTube channel also:

i think its something to do with the CVs ... my man in the know @amertonman normally fiddles with my stable ..

Hi Andi, Yes, I am kinda aware of this ... I just like the thought of ''finally'' having a model which is fit for purpose without needing loads of tweaking ... and my Bill ... well ... erm ... what does one do with him ? I have a few ideas up my sleeve Kat :-)

if only you'd finished ... are they ever finished ? LOL I guess he could have some single track OLE on there with some form of terminating wire post thingey ... Kat ;-)