SteveyDee68

Happy New Year!! This project has not completely stalled, although I am now concentrating on the other bit of the baseboard that I chopped off!! I picked up a three way point at a recent toy/hobby fair for next to nothing, because it had the remains of (broken) fishplates soldered to the ends of the rails. Chance to try my new Parkside digital soldering iron (from Lidl) to see if I could remove the fishplates... Tried 200 degrees then 300 degrees with no joy, other than getting the solder to flow and more firmly solder the broken fishplate onto the rails! But then, at 400 degrees, I was able to push the end of the fishplate with the tip of the iron and finally they popped off! Result! Using the iron to melt and then remove the remaining solder, I cleaned up the rail ends with a file and now had a useable three way point! So now I have replaced the LH point at the left hand end of the loop on the layout, which allows me to run a long siding along the front of the yard, which I plan to inset into cobbles. Why introduce yet more track into an already busy scenario? Gives me somewhere to park my Xmas present to myself, my Bachmann breakdown crane! Shout out to Jim at The Locoshed - apparently his first sale of one of these (and he is matching the big boys on price, too, so well worth a visit if in the area - plus a brew and a biscuit are always on offer!!) Steve S

Hi there, 37114 Firstly, I like the look of your layout so far. And the concrete on your hut is spot on! Might I suggest taking a look at the Scalescenes downloads website - Mr Wiffen has an excellent half relief clay dries building in corrugated asbestos, which also has a special tool you make up to allow you to create relief in the corrugated sheeting. Alternatively, you can buy the corrugated asbestos sheeting texture from the scratchbuilders yard, and that has the same tool. If you got the corrugated iron texture, I suppose it could also be used on that too, to give added relief (I haven't tried myself - it may be that the tool isn't fine enough for corrugated iron). No connection, just a very happy customer! Steve S

Headshunt = loco (up to an austerity 0-6-0) plus 3 wagons Front siding (main line) = 5 wagons Straight yard siding = 3 wagons Curved yard siding = 3 wagons Rear siding = 8 wagons (!) but can only have a single wagon added or removed at a time (intentionally!) MISSING PHOTO Missing piece of board at the front where the line curves over the corner of the Dock cut out? MISSING PHOTO Obviously the original dock was bigger - a fillet of board will be added to support this track. I did wonder about a small fillet in the corner and then have the line on a short wooden trestle bridge, simply to give me the opportunity to model one! But then I thought to myself ‘why would the railway have justified the cost of building a (curved) bridge when they could simply dump material to build an embankment instead?’ The name, incidentally, is for the school I covered lessons for today, Woodhey High School. There was a road (Woodhey Road) but as there is a Dock I thought "Wharf*" sounded right! Hours of fun!! * Obviously I later changed my mind, as the layout is now "Woodhey Quay" !

What have I done.... To make the baseboard for "DRS Engineering"' I chopped a bit off my original overlong (7 foot long) board. This was the "Dock" section, and I have had the "reverse L" shape knocking about, crying for something to be done on it. Having discovered that the Inglenook on the above layout was compromised (the headshunt only taking a maximum of two wagons) I decided to have a go making a shunting puzzle Inglenook on the remaining board, I pushed track around for a bit, then part-exchanged some medium radius points for some small radius set track points and, together with a couple of curved pieces and some flexible track, here is my new Inglenook... There's no fancy crossing or interlaced points. In fact, it could run off just two wires in the headshunt (top left), but I plan on putting feeds to each piece of track to ensure power. The long siding at the back can be accessed one wagon at a time via the headshunt, so will be used to hold alternative stock or maybe even be used with some "waybilling" puzzles later. There's lots of curves to fit the necessary siding lengths in, and the tightest will be fitted with (rudimentary) check rails. The five wagon capacity siding at the front can also exit right under the conveyor belt, to allow totally new trains to come on scene from a fiddle stick. Here are a few pics of progress so far (cutting the track) plus the all important stock capacity of sidings, plus a bodged up artists attempt at scenery. Hoping to use wire in tube to operate the points from the end - at least it is a little simpler overall than ‘DRS Engineering’! I might get a little further with this and also try out techniques for my "big" board! Stock capacities - left to right - long siding (with loco) doesn't matter, curved = 3 wagons, straight = 3 wagons, entry road = 5 wagons. Headshunt bottom left: MISSING PHOTO The all important headshunt = loco + 3 wagons (for the Inglenook shunting puzzle): MISSING PHOTO And access to the "long siding" at the rear = loco + 1 wagon: MISSING PHOTO Here's the idea for the scenery - NB it is tight top left and bottom right of the plan to rear and front respectively: MISSING PHOTO

Thanks to Hal Nail and the wonders of the Bay of Fleas, I was able to look closely at photos of both the Hornby class 71 and the Silver Fox class 74 and although only looking at models*, I can now see that the overall shape and cab ends may look the same but the class 74 has different grilles/louvres and windows on the sides as well as a different roof. As the kit also offers bogie side frames, maybe even those are different. So it would necessitate retooling the whole body even if the chassis remains the same which, as Hal points out, would require a major investment. Still a shame about the Wagonlits sleeper coaches and fourgons, though! Steve S * I did try looking at prototype photos but couldn't find any properly clear enough to tell!

Thanks Phil-b259 and GWR-fan - both helpful and informative responses. Looks like some "modelling" needs to be done! Where to get tiny plastic screws is my big dilemma now! Steve S

Happy New Year! Got myself a Bay of Fleas "present" at Christmas of a Hornby "Southern Suburban 1957" train pack (so BR livery with a black Schools loco) at a very reasonable price. On unboxing, I thought the front bogie seemed a bit loose... In fact, it is held on with two wires only (so is simply dangling in the photo). In the box I found a very small thin rod of plastic and a spring... Am I correct in thinking that this pin should hold the bogie against the bearing plate on the chassis? If so, it has clearly broken off and so my question would be how to fix it? Or should I look to replacing with a screw/bolt? I could simply return it to the seller, but to be honest I thought it a good price and would rather not go through all the hassle. And no, it didn't mention any damage to the loco in the listing! Steve S

TESCO in Prestwich (Manchester) had two catalogues but no Hornby magazines. Local ASDAs in Bury and Bolton had magazines but no catalogue! Will be ordering direct as mentioned earlier and take advantage of the combined price! Personally, not much of interest but hats off to HR for such a raft of products. My biggest disappointment (aka unfulfilled "wish") was for OO/4mm:foot Wagonlits sleeper coaches and a fourgon, so I could model the night sleeper boat train to go behind my SR locos! Yes, I know this is a limited interest consist, but as a "prototypical length" train could be just four coaches and two fourgons, it would be an easy one to model (as opposed to prototypical length HSTs, Pendolinos, APTs etc etc). Someone suggested I checked Hornby's Electrotren range, but none there (and would be to HO scale and so look positively anaemic against OO locos!) Perhaps I'll demonstrate my ignorance here, but I am quite surprised they don't release the class 71 as a class 74 - wouldn't that simply mean a new roof moulding? TTBOMK, the chassis is the same so a relatively "easy" model to create? (I know there were only ten of them, but there was only one "Rocket"! ) I do also wish they had gone for completely new designs for the "steampunk" range using their existing chassis, rather than sticking random bits of tubing and gears onto existing models. (If I was going to produce a new steampunk range, I would have got input from established steampunk modellers/designers, even those not directly involved with railways! Of course, I have no idea whether they did, nor about the costing restrictions placed upon the designers!) My cousin's three young boys are definitely the market these are aimed towards - I'll show them the photos and get their reactions! I may yet be tempted by a new Hornby "Terrier" (although not in a newly announced model finish!) but time will tell. At the end of the day, good luck to them.

Jack Have just finished reading your thread from start to finish - what fantastic skills you demonstrate and thanks for sharing your methods too. I have somehow caught the "Southern" bug, and have amassed quite a selection of SR (BR) locos, although Rule 1 applies because I get the lot, no matter where it might be seen (or not) in reality. One day, I shall be brave enough to start weathering my locos and stock - only hope I can do so many o the standards you show. Looking forward to what you might show us this year! Steve S

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Okay, so a little more up to date than this post, but seller Toyauction.de will sell you a circle of this track and ship it to you for free from Germany! Mind, at a Buy it Now price of £1003.26, I should hope the postage is free! Perhaps the price hike is to cover possible tariffs imposed upon such sales post-Brexit?! Merry Xmas, folks! Steve S PS I have messaged the seller with the simple question "Is this the genuine price or has an extra zero slipped in by accident?" Will update with any reply... LOL

Oh! Don't go telling everyone what I was looking at! It was this listing which set me asking the question in the first place!! Thank you to all for the advice and links. As soon as I get paid (hopefully Monday, or it'll be a grim Xmas!) I shall probably get a couple to work upon. As has been said, cheap enough to scrap should I make a mess of them! Steve

Hello Looking at the Wrenn R1 0-6-0 tank loco... (a) how accurate is the body itself and (b) which other proprietary r-t-r chassis might fit/replace the existing Wrenn effort, to aid production of a more accurate representation? Thanks in advance for *any* feedback Steve

Congratulations upon the article in The Railway Modeller - of course, it is all familiar to readers of RMweb but deservedly getting a print audience. Personally I love what you did with the Mainline hopper wagons and will, at some point, attempt the same myself!

Have purchased a second hand Peco turntable kit from my local model shop, with an electric motor attached for a price that cannot be argued with! There is a caveat, of course, in that the railings on the turntable deck need replacing as they are damaged, plus there isn't any rail chairs/clips for track approaching/leaving the table (as seen in the illustrations). Does anyone know if these are sold as spares? Tried Peter's Spares, a search of the Bay of Fleas and the Big Brazilian River, but to no avail. Anyone have any advice? (This will be on a second board to be attached to the first, featuring a shed, coal and ash facilities etc. An extension of my micro layout, and an eventual link to my planned "big" layout!)

Thanks to all for your replies - I think I shall hide my Ratio kit inside a suitable structure, as that seems more befitting of a loco works.

It seems I have nothing but questions for the collective wisdom, and here I go again... The Ratio loco hoist kit shows it outside, but another thread pointed me at a photo of the 1932 Didcot railway shed and, in particular, the loco lifting shop where the hoist inside looks very much like the Ratio kit. My question is, how common was it for lifting hoists to be outside, as per the Ratio kit illustration? Or is it more appropriate for them to be housed, like as at Didcot? Many thanks, in advance, for any advice or help.

Update... Well, if anyone has seen my question about Southern Region loco stock in the Questions forum, you will have gathered that I have recently purchased a number of larger locos, including and up to a Rebuilt Merchant Navy class 4-6-2! This means my carefully planned locoworks has a hiccup in that the headshunt won't fit my locos to get them into the shed! Fortunately, the track at the front right (shown as the Wagon Works) will fit a longer loco and has easy access. To that end, I downloaded the Scalescenes gable end engine shed in a matching finish to the Hornby magazine loco works. But another thread has pointed me at the Didcot Railway Centre website and in particular the picture of the engine-lifting shop: the crane gantry inside looks very like the Ratio loco hoist kit (which I have)... so now I wonder, is it usual for such a hoist to be under cover? Or is that peculiar to loco works? In which case, to paraphrase the film "Jaws", "I think we're gonna need a bigger shed"

Wow! Nearholmer and Oldddudders took the time to answer my obviously ill informed query - thank you, gents, as having read so many of your posts and marvelled at your modelling skills/expertise I am slightly awe struck! Oldddudders you are quite right, I was thinking of the B4 Dock Tank, but shied away from it due to an echo of one of Spike Milligan's war stories about a ship with that call sign ringing in my ears and convincing me that I had misremembered the loco type designation! Might explain why my internet searches are drawing a blank! What I have learnt in two posts is that to create a credible SR layout I need a little more focus than simply "did it run on the Southern region at some point?" Boat trains, the channel ports, Weymouth, Portsmouth, Dover Marine, Southampton are all major interests, so when I finally build my layout it will have to be freelance with a really big Rule 1 sign on it! I don't think I can be disciplined enough to create "credible"! Since starting this post, a veritable feast of information has appeared. Thank you, one and all for your input. I had forgotten the Radials tank engines, for example, but for now I shall buy some relevant books, do some research and keep my fingers crossed that Santa brings me a Bachmann 45 tons breakdown crane!

I have to admit that I have been somewhat ... tempted ... recently and my small collection of locos has expanded exponentially (almost). I now have the following: Terrier 0-6-0 (1 x Hornby, 1 x Dapol) Q class 0-6-0 (Hornby) C class 0-6-0 (Bachmann) Drummond 700 0-6-0 (Hornby) N15 4-6-0 (black) (Hornby) ex SR N Class 2-6-0 31862 (Bachmann) Rebuilt Battle of Britain 4-6-2 (Hornby) Rebuilt Merchant Navy 4-6-2 (Hornby) Class 33 diesel x2 (1xLima, 1 x Heljan) Class 70 electro diesel (Hornby) Class 08 (Bachmann) Class 06 (Heljan) Class 04 (Bachmann) USA 0-6-0 tank (Bachmann) There are a few more shunting locos (sentinels, pugs, assorted “pugbashes”, Triang dock shunters etc) but my interest is obviously Southern based! Currently bidding (on The Bay of Fleas) on a Bachmann Standard 4MT 2-6-4 tank loco, and a (Bachmann) Lord Nelson tender loco. Eyes peeled for a Heljan B2 tank loco but... What RTR locos should I pursue to “complete” my Southern Region BR loco collection? I just know I am missing a couple of locos but am not knowledgeable enough to know which ones! Locos I can think of are: P Class 0-6-0 B2 0-4-0 West Country Class 4-6-2 Battle of Britain 4-6-2 Steve PS I have a 4 car and 2 car electric set from Bachmann, plus their PLV - other than Hornby BIL, what else should I look for?

May I point you at Scalescenes downloadable modern industrial unit kit? That might give you some ideas or suitable cladding.

I was thinking of a piece of tape across the mechanism when sprayed, removed as point laid in place. Meanwhile the test piece I glued onto foam is still solid as a rock so initial results encouraging. I need to see what happens with the glue when I ballast it (another experiment!) Cheers Steve

Was just about to draw members' attention to this, having had an email from them this morning (and putting my order in quick!! Steve S

Thanks for the information, Graham - have to admit to being a little star struck to get a message from you, as Canute Quay is one of my major inspirations! If my layout turns out half as good as that, I'll be a very happy chappie indeed!

Handsworth Works and Handsworth Goods are inspiring me onwards with my build, particularly in Locksley's use of Scalescene buildings and his surface power bus using copper tape (I do like the idea of *not* having to drill through the baseboard for wiring!) Experiments with spray mounting glue shows it holds foam incredibly well, and also track too. I reckon some careful masking may be needed on points before glueing them using this method... has anyone used such sprays for track and advise of pitfalls to avoid? Meanwhile the bicycle brake cable has arrived for (possibly) working the points ... and am puzzled that there are big metal blob things on each end of the cables! How are you supposed to thread them through the outer cable with those attached?!! However, work/experiments grind to a halt now as I launch into a week of Bugsy Malone as MD for a school production, with a weekend of frenetic rescoring of band parts into the keys required for the production! I may do some browsing for a bit of relief, but for now it is adieu and see you all on the other side! Steve