luke the train spotter

They are ready made washes and look like these: (picture pinched from Google). I've had the flowing problem with acrylic washes I've made up myself in the past especially over plastic but these ones don't seem to have that problem. Something also important to note is how they don't really smell of white spirit or any harsh thinner which is important in my house since my family like to moan when I stink the place out with fumes.

So I had actually tried to weather them previously with a wash I mixed up with a black humbrol enamel and some white spirit which I applied over the models then rubbed off with a cotton bud. I made the stupid mistake of using a gloss finish black paint so once it had dried (24 hours later) I basically had a glossy black finish over the models which was a little frustrating and far from the effect I wanted. With the valleyo washes they were faff free and easy to get the exact right amount out of the bottle. I really liked the faster drying times (15 to 20 minutes) as I got all the wagons re-washed then powders applied in an hour. For the method of application I simply applied the wash over all the wagon then left it for 10 minutes whilst I did the other wagons then came back with a cotton bud and using vertical strokes and a bit of pressure removed most of the wash. I leave it for 10 minutes or so to allow the wash to harden up so when I come to rub most if it off I get a nice streaking effect. The washes I used were the black for the wagon bodies which I was very happy with then the brown wash for the underframes though that needs a little more experimenting with.

With a bit of spare time over the Christmas break I've weathered some new stock. I used valleyo washes and valleyo powders and they're a joy to use. This comes after a shift to favouring acrylic paints over enamels and I can't recommend the valleyo stuff enough. the photo is a little over exposed but that's just so the camera would bring out the weathering on the wagons more. I should probably stop buying and building stock and get on with that fiddle yard extension so I can store it all somewhere.

I've managed to get a Kato 11-103 chassis round 2 inch radius curves before and a minitrains loco around 2 1/2 inch radius curve. Couplings had to be hand built bits of wire though as the radius was too tight for the typical nem loop couplings.

I can now confirm that this layout will be at the EBOR 2020 model railway exhibition in Heworth, York on the 22nd and 23rd February. This is the same exhibition that Distillery Yard (more about its 2020 appearance in a later post) made its debut exhibition at last year and it was a fantastic show! To any modeller young or old, amateur or pro in the hobby I’d recommend it. It was one of the first exhibitions i went to (now 4 years ago!) and I’ve been back every year since with it always proving an inspiration. Here is a link to a website with some more details on; when I get an official leaflet I will post a picture on it here. https://railwaymodels.uk/event-ebor-group-of-railway-modellers-model-railway-show-2020-02-22#.XffuhoGnyhA To get the layout ready for the show I need to build the other fiddle yard, paint the fascia and get a curtain sorted for the layout. In other news, I ordered a very exciting bit of kit today which will take a while to get here since I’m having it custom built and it will need the roadway re-modelling properly, but more on that when it gets here after Christmas!

From my experiences I've used the cheapest I could find and it worked fine. It was card bodied with plastic ends and it worked fine. You could always re-enforce it with some wood though.

The cake box is stunning so I cant wait to see what you do with the new extension!

That back scene looks awesome! What did you use to paint it?

Couple bits of messing around with some trees left over from finlarig Halt. I've replaced some of the tired looking trees by the distillery buildings and also added some more by the end of the layout with the buffers. Simple changes but making a difference.

In between coursework deadlines I had half an hour spare so I painted the backscene. I used the same method as on finlarig halt with the green washes. Here's a picture of it. Now I'm getting somewhere, this is what I envisaged the layout to look like a year and a half ago.

A nice tidy, square build! Looks great on the layout too.

Ah well that's probably cause I've selected camera angles that hide the blemishes. Basically the black lining on the steel parts wasn't as neat as I'd have liked.

Finished the pallet wagon tonight. It's by no means perfect and is a bit meh in spots but it'll do.

I cant think of any reason why not. I have built some wagon kits before but that was a few years back and i found it fairly easy to pick up again and build. I think as long as you build it according to the instructions and dont rush it you’d be fine. Probably the hardest bit is getting the chassis square but this was fairly east to do as the chassis has some plastic tabs to help you glue everything in the right place. The only other thing to note is this wagon doesnt come with couplings but they’re easy enough to fit/lake yourself.

I cant think of any reason why not. I have built some wagon kits before but that was a few years back and i found it fairly easy to pick up again and build. I think as long as you build it according to the instructions and dont rush it you’d be fine. Probably the hardest bit is getting the chassis square but this was fairly east to do as the chassis has some plastic tabs to help you glue everything in the right place. The only other thing to note is this wagon doesnt come with couplings but they’re easy enough to fit/lake yourself.

I'm quite excited to say that distillery yard will be returning to the exhibition circuit next year with an invite for a show in the summer (more on that in a later post) and with that new exhibition opportunity I'd like to make some more improvements to the layout and the stock I run on it. I've recently managed to read a few sections of the fantastic book "iron rails and whisky trails" and realised that I haven't modelled a van train which was very common for every distillery. Since the layout is only small I've started this off with 2 vans. The first (left bottom picture) is a parkside pallet wagon kit. I've never built a parkside kit before and it was an absolute dream. It's currently standing in white primer waiting for the paint shop. The middle wagon is a 12t Bachmann vent van. This just needs a weathering to join the fleet. The third wagon is a 12t Bachmann mineral wagon. Bought second hand and it needs a good weathering and also removing the previous owners weathering attempts but not bad for £8. Once these are finished there are some other jobs that need doing like I need to redesign the fiddle yard so that it has shelves to hold more stock, fresh painted backscene, more trees, probably a new layout name board and more barrels to definitely get the point across that this is a distillery.

Thanks Chris! I've had a lot of practice and I think taking risks and just giving something a go had to really helped me learn new skills.

Marmalade wharf has now gone to a new home. I never operated the layout and it was just taking up loads of space in my very small train room so it's gone now. I might build a new layout to replace it but we'll see.

More progress on the Barclay. Now I'm somewhat satisfied with the weathering I have stripped it of its NCB identity, weathered it and fitted a wooden back plate to the cab. This is an attempt by the crews of the distillery to weather proof the loco for the winter months to try and conserve as much heat but it also acts as a good view blocker for the stay alive unit and decoder. I may add some more planking to the sides of the cabs too at a later date.Still needs crew/lamps/some tools on the running board but Im happy with it for now. It's looking much more like the distillery shunter now.

Fantastic build! Really shows what you can do with a bit of kit bashing. Can't wait to see it all painted up too

Regarding the sector plate I've built a few. My method is to lay one track, then the sector plate then the other track. Instead of using a sliding bolt to join up the rails I use a stopper a block which I align the rails with then super glue it down. This means that I can just push the sector plate across to it and I know it will be joined up.

The running board is all diecast and so is the chassis so it has enough weight though feels like it weighs less than the peckett but that has a fully diecast body.

I plan to use T cut. Thats what I normally use for debranding locos and removing numbers. It's worked well on Hornby and Bachmann models so I expect that it'll work well on this one too.

Well that has been painful but successful. I have remedied the broken slide gear and grinding motor and I'm glad that's over. The broken slide gear needed quite some force applied with a screw driver in some precise places to get it to pop back in place. It is still loose though so I've put a few drops of super glue in it. The very noisy grindy motor comes down to the jammed valve gear as a result of the broken slide gear. It runs nice and smoothly now which is very pleasing but it is definitely louder than my peckett/ruston though I think this is a motor thing and not necessarily a fault. Now I feel confident that the loco will provide good service, here is how I fired stay alive to it. I started by removing the running board from the chassis then removing the body off by taking out the 3 small screws and prising odd the back plate of the cab with a sharp craft knife. Unlike the Hornby peckett where most of the loco is metal construction, the body of the Barclay is pretty much all plastic. This made it very easy to clip away the firebox to make way for the stay alive capacitor and decoder. I just used some metal clippers which found it easy to get through the plastic. I then fed the wired from the chassis through the cab before hard wiring a laisdcc 870021 decoder in. The stay alive unit is the same as in the ruston and peckett and is a TCS KA4 unit. I then reassembled it all and after the repairs I made it all works! Next job will be debranding it and making a modification to the cab so that it looks like there is a homemade rear panel of the cab to cover all the electrics. Crew will also be essential as well as a good weathering and additional detailing.

Well that excitement has very quickly turned to sour disappointment. Never have I had a loco which makes the sounds this one does. So I ran the loco in no problem for the designated amount of time then chipped it with the high capacity stay alive which required some medium loco surgery. Had it shunting distillery yard for a bit and now it's wheels are locked up as the motor grinds away. Turns out it's the loose slide gear on both sides which is absolute pain. It appears that they were simply super glued in place which is very shoddy considering they are crucial to the running of the loco. Furthermore they are a flimsy plastic and I can't get them into the designated slots. I have sent rails of Sheffield a message (that's who I bought the loco through) but since this set me back £100 I'm appalled at it's shoddy quality compared to the peckett which was cheaper. I doubt I'll get very far though considering I've fitted the stay alive gear. Any advice or experience to fix this? After speaking to some friends this unfortunately seems to be a common issue.