GWR57xx

I use “No Nonsense Lightweight Filler” to do mortar lines on laser cut brickwork. It’s very fine, so might be suitable for what you want. Available from Screwfix (other suppliers are available). Very cheap compared to similar products sold specifically as model fillers (<£5 for 500ml).

How long has the layout been languishing in the shed? If it has been there a while and the shed is not insulated, heated and sealed against damp then I’d think it likely that you’d have to do a lot of repairs to it due to damage from damp and temperature, and possibly wildlife (mice, rats). I think you’d be much better building your own layout.

Thank you 🙂. There’s a couple of things I’d do differently if I was building it again, such as positioning the roof beams so as to hide the slots and tabs of the water tank, but I’m generally super pleased with how it’s turning out. It would be good to see your build of the 4mm version. Will you be posting it somewhere?

Hi Bob, I hope everything’s ok? How is the layout progressing?

Having scratched the N6 Coal Wagon itch I thought it high time that the Coal Stage was brought forward off the back burner. The four walls are now complete (apart from a little more mortar in places), including the interior details: The rear canopy over the coal wagon road is all ready to be glued on. Here it is just slotted in place for the photos: Next on the list are the outside lights, coal tip platform, staircase, track ramp and then finish off the rear canopy with support columns and downpipes. Forgot to add, there's also an access platform with ladder and a water level gauge to be added too...

What’s your verdict? James at Bexhill West has just posted his review of the 22W version : I like the idea of 22W and air assist, but not sure I can justify upgrading from my 5W Emblaser just yet.

That’s magnificent. Incredible realism and detail. Shame about the shed wall. With a natural countryside background behind it I can’t see anything that would give it away as being a model and not the real thing.

Spot the deliberate mistake, just to see if we’re paying attention? That should be ”refrigeration”, not “refrigiration”. (middle of text on rear cover) Looking forward to both of these books being published 🙂.

If you continue the centre shed roads onto the right hand fiddle yard as well it would allow engines to move “towards the back of a longer shed”. Other engines could then follow them in. I think it would give you a lot more flexibility.

@martin_wynne, thanks. I’ve just finished watching James’ videos and see that he intends to cover laser cut bases in a future episode. Marvellous! 🙂

I’ve just stumbled upon this thread and read through from the beginning. Great stuff - now following. A couple of questions, if I may? I’m interested in the options for 7mm O gauge track. Are the chairs designed for one particular make of rail profile, or are there options for (say) C&L, Peco, PermWay etc? I have a laser cutter (original A3 Emblaser 1). Is there a topic somewhere discussing the option of laser cut track bases?

Back in the day before DCC came along there were a plethora of sound modules available that basically produced hissing sounds that supposedly mimicked steam engines - I built one for my then N gauge layout. Not great, but possibly better than nothing. They mostly seem to have disappeared now, but I found this which looks pretty good to me and may be of interest: (no connection whatsoever with the product or the seller, just passing on information) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/375046870439?hash=item57528915a7:g:sE4AAOSwJWFab3Ty

Might be an idea to add a strip along the front edge which the cassettes butt up to, to make alignment easier and to prevent them inadvertently sliding over the edge …

I had pondered what to do about the rivets on the tank. I don’t have a rivet machine. I had intended to get some Archers rivets to try adding those but they shut up shop before I got round to ordering any. Railtec now do something similar I believe, but the size and spacing would have to be pretty spot on to work. The embossed laser marks actually show up quite well in real life though they hardly show at all in the photos I posted above. I might try brushing some dark powders over them to try to highlight them a bit more.

It looks as though you at least have the minimum 6’ spacing between tracks (measured from outside edges), but I think 9’ or 10’ was normal for sidings to allow access between rows of wagons?

What width are the wagons? They look very narrow given the rails are 4’ 8.5” apart?

It’s a nice, simple engineering solution, but… don’t you think you’ll quickly get fed up winding three revolutions up then three back down for each wagon? Did you say each train has 22 loaded wagons? How many trains a session? Seems like a lot of winding. Wouldn’t something like a signal servo controller work? You could possibly drive the shaft directly off the servo shaft, or via a pushrod. The servo could be programmed to operate as slow as you want, and the signal bounce effect could be used at the end of the up stroke to rattle the last grains out. Then it would just be a single button press or flick of a switch for up and another for down for each wagon.

Hi @meatloaf, I don't know if an Inglenook style layout is of any interest to you, but since I suggested that it might be possible in your space I thought I'd see what I could come up with while keeping to your "maximum length" of 2000mm . Unfortunately I couldn't make it work with standard Peco code 124 points - they're just far too long and shallow to fit within 2000mm. I know you said "no settrack", but if you're prepared to cut them down a bit to reduce the length of the curved turnout then something like this would be possible: At the start of the Inglenook "game" there would be five wagons distributed between sidings C & D, with the platform road B clear. As there is no run-round the engine would have to propel the three additional wagons into the platform road. Then the "game" begins. There is room to prepare the five wagon train in the platform road, but not enough length on the headshunt (which could be a scenic cassette to reduce the need to handle stock), which here is 700mm long (enough for a small engine like an 08 plus 3 short wagons). You could also have a separate cassette for the engine. To make it perhaps a little more interesting you could try: Here the right hand 300mm is a traverser (long enough for an engine or two short wagons). The "game" begins with two wagons on each of traverser roads C & D plus one on the fixed part of D. The engine pulls the three wagons into the platform road (turn the cassette round!) and then "runs round" by driving onto traverser road B. The traverser is then pulled out so that B aligns with C (which is now empty). The engine drives out to the headshunt A. The traverser is pushed back to its starting point and shuffling can commence.

If you haven’t already found it, try searching for Inglenook layouts. You could probably get a 5-3-3 type in your space, but with a headshunt rather than a fiddle yard. O gauge quickly eats up space!

There is an Antony Manor (no H) in Cornwall. Could the GWR have made a transcription error?

I thought I'd posted this earlier but apparently not, or it's lost in the ether somewhere. So just in case anyone's interested here's a list of the paint samples and a reminder of what they look like. All are Vallejo except primer (A). Primers: A: Halfords Grey rattle can B: 73.603 German Panzer Grey C: 73.602 Black Samples: 1: 70.836 London Grey 2: 70.868 Dark Sea Green 3: 70.900 French Mirage Blue 4: 70.995 German Grey 5: 70.862 Black Grey 6: 71.056 Panzer Dark Grey 7: 70.994 Dark Grey 8: 70.991 Dark Sea Grey 9: 70.816 Luftwaffe Uniform WWII The winner (at least for me, this time) being (5) Black Grey.

There are a few threads discussing this issue at the moment. I wouldn't be comfortable giving away and losing control of something I've put so much effort into.

Apart from a final bit of weathering these are now done. Two rolling chassis with all the buffers, hooks, couplings, wheels & bearings fitted: Floors added: Bodies added (not glued down yet): I'm really pleased with these. They're better than anything I thought I'd be able to produce when I started on the design work, and I think they hold up very well against the RTR wagons I've got. At least it's something a bit different...

Maybe something like this: This is just a random sample of one from t'web, but the sort of thing I've used on r/c helis before and seems like the ideal connection from your link arm to the servo horn. Many different sizes available. Search for "Servo pushrod connector".

37s look good in pretty much any livery but that’s the best of them all IMO. Proper Job.