nharding99

It's been a while since I showed some video. Here you can see that things are running quite smoothly for a Friday night session. The jib on the breakdown crane swings around a bit but it makes it round the rather tight curves! That's all for now. Nigel H

Track for the two new sidings in the fiddle yard has now been laid, providing significantly more options for storage. I can now run 4 coach formations if I wish (though in general small is beautiful on this layout). The additional turnout used to create the new branch pushed my track geometry to the limits. I have had to relay the mainline curve and move it right out to the edge of the board to maintain a reasonable radius. Some trains just about catch the backscene so a small cut out will be required to remedy that. Hopefully I can put the Xuron cutters, track pins and fishplates away for a while now. Thanks for reading. Nigel H.

Hi Steve, thank you. I did initially try out some insulfrog points but I had some 0-6-0 locos that stalled on them so I went for electrofrog which are still a bit unreliable if the point blades get dirty but they probably worked out a bit better for me acknowledging that, as you say, I have lost some storage space because of that. I have power frog switching for all of the points on the viewing side of the layout and they have performed very well so far. Thanks Nigel

In a burst of Friday night activity I have now completed the front fascia. The layout certainly looks smarter with that in place and the tunnels are pleasantly darker now. Also, in an act of clumsiness I managed to drop the baseboard tonight. There was some minor damage to one of the backscenes and I had to touch up a bit of chipped road surface. But on the positive side the new storage siding extension passed the shock and vibration test. Next job will be track laying of the new sidings and then onwards with the finer detailing. I do need to think about lighting, I may just keep it simple and try some clip on lights which I could clip onto the backscene (hopefully I can find some that diffuse the light sufficiently). That's all for now. Thanks Nigel

This 4' x 2' layout is now 4' x 2' plus a bulge! I have laid the foundations for a small add-on section which will fit just above the control panel (not currently in place). The idea is to add 2 more storage sidings. That's all for now, just a quick update! Cheers Nigel H

Thanks for pointing that out, will do. Cheers Nigel

I see what you did there

Gibbo you make a good point about the coupling gap. The curves on my layout are quite tight. Perhaps what I should do is work on adding NEM plugins where I can experiment with the length of coupling shanks and come up with the shortest gap that will tolerate my curves. I did move forward the front bogies for the driving cabs which means that they now touch my curved platform edges so I'll likely have to see if I can skim something off those edges. As for Tina Turner, is there any evidence that she travelled between Manchester and Stoke in the 1960s? But anyway I'm sure there were plenty of amorous couples! Thanks NIgel

I thought I'd start a thread showing the development and progress of an N Gauge class 304. I'm aware that this has been done by others, I'm taking the approach of using Farish Mark 1 coaches stripped of paint then applying Electra Rail self adhesive graphics. The cabs are 3D printed from N-train. This is the first time that I have attempted anything like this. Below are some images, the end cars are the least developed. The motor chassis is from a Dapol class 122 and that sits nicely in the pantograph car (Motor Brake Second). You will see that it still has the diesel underframe details that will be removed. One or two snags and challenges: The couplings are a little bit erratic. The bogies are NGS Gresley bogies and they seem quite flexible and prone to bending. At the moment the ride heights aren't consistent. Maybe some strengthening with a more rigid plate or guide might help. The Electra graphics are slightly long (perhaps my fault, I may have stretched them slightly) and do need to be wrapped around the coach ends and fixed down more securely. They do lift a little, maybe some small dabs of glue will fix that. In the trailer composite my efforts to remove the paint from the Mark 1 coach used as a basis resulted in transparent sides that were a little foggy. I debated whether to abandon that one but eventually decided to stick with it on the basis that I saw some 304s on YouTube which had quite steamy windows on a cold damp day! I've never seen a 304 in green in N Gauge before. I'd be interested to hear if anyone knows of one. Thanks for reading and any suggestions or comments are welcome! Nigel H.

Thank you. Whether it's high quality I'm not sure. I'm just trying to do my best for a first time layout. I used to think that big was beautiful but I'm with you now in that there is definitely a certain charm in seeing what can be done in a small space. However there are times when I wish i had an extra foot or two to play with. I'm thinking of adding a small extension at the rear so that I can fit in a couple of extra storage sidings. These should just about fit above the control panel. Cheers Nigel

Slowly but surely progress is being made... On the construction side of things I I have completed some remedial work towards the back of the layout. I was never happy with the fit of the backscene and right hand elevated section. It was over stressed and so now I have mated them properly, added another dowel plug for security and done some filling in and extending of road surfaces and backscene. The walls need to be rebuilt. The goods yard is a little bit more overgrown now - not particularly seen in this image but you can see that a tree has been planted to add a touch more greenery (I find that there's a surprising amount of vegetation and trees in a city) A Class 45 has been returned to traffic - it's been sat in the stock box for quite a while with a transmission problem. Now repaired it can handle trains to/from the Midland route to Manchester. And just back from the paint shop, is an AL6 in early blue which surely holds the title of "pride of the line". As ever, thanks for reading. Nigel H

The 2019 Dapol N gauge class 86 has a Next18 decoder plug. Has anyone fitted sound? Is it as simple as using a plugin sound decoder (such as Zimo MX658N18), fitting a speaker and soldering on the speaker wires? Many thanks Nigel H

It's been a while since the last update but with the last summer (cricket) Test match having reached its conclusion today it's now the end of the summer and we're into a proper modelling season! On my rather messy workbench is my fledgling AM4 (class 304) unit. The good news is that after a visit to TINGS I now have a motor chassis - a Dapol class 122 will be used. The convenience here is that it is DCC ready (just have to throw in a 6 pin decoder) and the low motor profile means that the motor chassis will fit into the pantograph car. I need to chop off some of the underframe detail (the diesel looking parts) but otherwise I think it will work well, it's a perfect length. It would be cool to add sound, I'm not sure if there is a class 304 sound project available anywhere. The pantograph is not permanently fixed yet. I need to see how I will add the details there. Gresley bogies are fitted to all but the power car. That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Current work is along the lines of adding more detail and finishing touches. Here you can see one or two details have been added to the goods yard (trolley with yard worker, factory workers in the background). Those tarpaulin loads on the road vehicle trailers are from Graham Farish Scenecraft and are rather good in my view. For those who might be interested in seeing the layout then I have received an invitation to exhibit it at the N Gauge South East exhibition in April 2020. I did think about whether I wanted to do this but my 16 year old daughter thinks I should exhibit it at least once and has offered to help out on the day so we'll be giving it a go. It will be a Northern layout for the Southerners (of which I am one these days!). This means that I will need to think about putting together a lighting rig and a front fascia. Exciting times though

It's time for a balmy July evening update... A short engineers train is passing through the station. The rather shiny Shark brake van is an N Gauge Society kit in its gloss coat, awaiting transfers. I'll maybe post a detailed picture when it's finished. Longtime readers will notice the introduction of track-side clutter. I guess I'm at the detail stage now which is good fun (though I have to be in the mood for it, maybe the heat is sapping my energy? ) Below we have a fault showing photo if ever there was one! I still need to disguise the backscene gap where my measurements, cuttings and hardboard contortions didn't quite meet up. I'm considering using an image of a TV transmitter tower to cover most of the gap and help tidy it up. There's also a rather ugly screw in front of one of the factories that was used to secure the backscene very firmly, I'm hoping that it can be safely removed now that I've used other screws since then. Plans for the scene below include adding some supermarket trolleys and pedestrians. I think that just plugging that small light gap between the road and backscene will smarten things up too. The traction engine is a small conceit, it features the layout builders name (though you can't make it out in this particular shot). That's all for now. Happy modelling everyone! Nigel H

Just by way of further example, here are some 2 character DMU headcodes for the Cambrian Coast and North Wales (mid 1970s)... https://www.2d53.co.uk/Headcode/headcodeB.htm

A "Father's Day Special" sees the Blue Pullman put in an appearance today. This 6 car set can't fit in to any of the storage sidings so it has to be placed on the track, run and then immediately removed to allow other stock to circulate. So its appearances are occasional but it does add a touch of class as it effortlessly glides around the layout. In the background you can see that the back scene has been painted and I have started to infill some printed back scene images. Happy Fathers Day everyone!

Today I have been working on the backscene. This is mark 2, the bendy MDF seemed very heavy and quite difficult to work with so I now have some hardboard with some basic bracing. The right section needs squaring up (re-screwing) so that it mates better in the center. It is, as yet, unpainted. And here is just a quick detail shot of the timber yard which has been stocked with piles of wood in recent days... The factories haven't been fixed down yet so that is why they are looking a bit wonky! And finally, with the layout looking a bit empty tonight (I haven't got out the road vehicles etc) here is a Sulzer Type 2 pulling a conflat train through the station. That's all for now! Thanks for reading! Nigel

Thanks Matt. That photo has highlighted that my platform edge painting was a bit rough. I have since touched up the brickwork! Onwards and upwards

Thanks Dave. Yes, the 86 is a superb model, it runs really sweetly too. Now that the AC electrics have arrived the layout feels more authentic to me.

A significant day for the layout as the first AC Electric arrives! Some work yet to do of course as the AL6 is in a modern guise so it needs to be back-dated to a ca 1965 AL6 in early BR blue livery (not Electric blue) with small yellow warning panels. I'm not sure that I trust myself with that work so I'm considering a commission for that when I have some funds (birthday/Christmas or maybe I should setup a JustGiving page (ha ha)). In the meantime, skimming under the masts, the loco looks quite impressive to my eyes. It's now a year on from when I first started building this layout in earnest. I'm quite pleased with progress, apart from the backscene (the elephant in the room) I have a functioning layout with much of the scenery completed and it has given me alot of pleasure so far! All the Best Nigel H

Since I last posted the industrial area (now unofficially known as Mill Street) has had some factories added. These are Metcalfe kits converted to low relief through some judicious cutting and with replacement plastic roofs to try to give a consistent look and blend them in with other buildings on the layout. The timber yard has some timber in stock, more is needed. In the station area no new work, just showing a couple of EE Type 3s crossing each other... That's all for now Cheers Nigel H

I agree. If I was selling a product I'd want to maximise its exposure and make it accessible to all show visitors and not simply hope that my prospects would see it (view it) through magazine photos, social media or other forums.

I'll have you know that I put my heart and soul into keeping my office tidy! This is just for you...

When the family are away I do miss them but it does mean that I can set up the layout for an extended period. I have pretty much setup everything I have completed so far and had a long operating session.... In this first image you can see that the storage sidings are looking busy! Here an Ivatt 2MT approaches the station. From this angle it looks like the background buildings are closing in on the scene which is exactly the effect I am looking for... Here is an overall view of the layout... And finally, a short video, from the operator's perspective, showing some shunting in the yard... Who left that track rubber in the yard? !!! Thanks for visiting!