Pete 75C

There's always one, isn't there...?

Raining heavily now in North Norfolk. I'm desperately trying to think how I can use that as an excuse to get out of some decorating but I'm struggling a bit... Gardening, yes, but decorating... erm...

I think one of your stalkers have popped in and paid a visit, Beast. "Disagrees" are so rare in ERs, you can't help but notice when someone gets one...

With regard to the road over the bridge, I really wasn't sure about putting a bus stop on it, but there will be a pedestrian path leading down from the bridge along the backscene as an alternative walking route to the station and the high street... That's my excuse! Plus, it's a nice opportunity to use more than just the double yellow lines from the vinyl sheet which really is a quality product and very easy to use. I've just purchased a set of EFE London bus stops which are far superior to the old Merit items. There just isn't enough pavement width for a bus shelter, sadly. All the bridge needs now is a couple of street lamps and a "One Way" road sign. Oh, and the pavement! I had planned to use the Metcalfe self adhesive slabs but I've had mixed results with these in the past, so I've opted instead for some Wills Victoria stone paving sheets. I'm tempted by an EFE Daimler Fleetline DMS double decker on Route 37, but the price is a little steep at £29.50! There is a cheaper version of the DMS with slightly less detail - I just can't make my mind up. It has to be a DMS though, as these ran on routes 154 and 157 through Wallington up until around 1990ish. Hope to get some more pictures up towards the end of the week, but missus is insisting I do some decorating. Pah. Mind you, the house is going on the market when it's finished, so I guess it's all for the greater good...

Morning all. Late today. Daughter forgot school bag (how can you forget THAT???) and I had to make a mercy dash to the high school. All went well until I remembered the parking nightmare outside... by the time I got parked, the kids were just going inside and, unable to spot Gabriella, I had to drop the bag at the school office. What is it about a single man walking through a school playground at 8.45am? I got several looks from staff and children that would suggest that, in their eyes, I was a potential murderer or kidnapper... In other news... actually, there isn't any, this is Norfolk... Have a good Monday if that isn't too contradictory. Edit: can I add my own "welcome back" to Don. Take it easy.

Thanks to both of you. I had hoped to run 33105 with the white cab window surrounds alongside some NSE liveried stock circa 1986-1988. In fact I still will... that useful get out of jail card "modellers license" will have to be played!

Nice shots! - thanks again to all of you. On a loosely connected note, does anyone know how long 33105 survived with the white cab window surrounds before a repaint? I have my eye on the Heljan model and would just like to know if it would still have been like this in the late 80s. Thanks, Pete.

That reminds me. We don't have a garden bin so by the end of this month I'll have taken 78 gazillion wet leaves down the tip...

Morning all. My wife's away visiting her mum (dragon-in-law). Daughter still round at a friend's after a sleepover. Son still asleep (!) and likely to remain so 'til early afternoon at least. Bliss. Oh, and the sun's shining. Should I do some modelling or just sit still in some sort of zen trance and appreciate the silence? Tough choice. I think I'll make my mind up over a fresh pot of coffee.

I've always struggled with road markings! I was never happy with the N gauge printed sheets I used to use on previous layouts. In OO, I've tried everything from emery paper for the road surface through to roofing felt which was way overscale and far too coarse as you can imagine. I've cut paper templates and sprayed on the road markings. There would almost always be overspray which would ruin everthing. I even tried using a bow pen and that ended badly! Now the roads are made almost the same way as the platforms. 3mm MDF sheet is cut to the correct width on a table saw (I dislike visible joins). The MDF is sanded with very fine emery paper. Everything is sprayed with cheap grey car primer and allowed to dry. I use Plastikote Suede Touch paint from an aerosol to give the road some texture although this doesn't show in the pictures. When this is thoroughly dry, more grey primer and then some misting from other darker shades of grey. Masking tape is used to give the impression of repairs and the repaired sections are given a thicker coat of texture paint and then a much darker grey, almost black, topcoat. Finally, black and white weathering powders are used just to mix everything up a little and tone it all down. The road markings shown above are simply laser cut vinyl graphics. They're a little shiny when applied, but although it's impossible to see in the pictures, the same weathering powders are used to tone them down. The thin vinyl stands a little proud of the road surface just as the road marking paint does in real life. This seems to work well for OO but might be a bit too deep for N. I've tried to resist the temptation to use all the vinyl graphics that came on the sheet - everthing from zebra crossings to disabled parking bays! It is only a road bridge! There probably wouldn't be a bus stop on a road overbridge in reality but I couldn't help myself! Ian, for Santa Barbara, what on earth is the 3D printed template you used? Do you spray the markings through it? Sounds useful and maybe just needs perseverance.

I'm still messing around with the road bridge/scenic break. The road bridge is in place but I need to finish building up to it with some offcuts of knaufboard foam insulation and get the contours right. I'll upload some pics when I'm happy with this. At the moment, I'm thinking it could be better... As I'm working upstairs with just an extension lead and a single bulb, I can only really make progress during daylight so last night, I thought I'd mark out and cut the road deck for the bridge. I brought this down to the kitchen and under much better light, I was able to paint and weather the road surface and add the markings. You can see the kerbs alongside the masking tape, but the actual pavement will be fitted in place later to make sure the paving slabs are a tight fit up against the bridge girders and brick piers. As with the platform, the opportunity was taken to add some patched up tarmac in a slightly different shade. You'll notice the road over the bridge is a two-lane one way street. Why? I have no idea! Seemed like a good idea at the time...

Circa late 70s in South London, I remember my parents had an old steel framed bin with a lid. Into this was fitted a strong brown paper sack. My father used to have to remember to unlock the back gate on collection day as the binmen would wander up the path, remove the old sack and refit a new one into the frame. I appreciate the productivity of the binmen must have been rubbish (pardon the pun) having to do that all day long, but weren't some things just better then? Another rose-tinted moment from me. Some days when I wake up I'm 74, not 47...

Could they not just drive back along your street in the other direction...? The councils will issue us high visibility vests and have us tipping our own bins into the truck next...

Agreed - I wouldn't want to either. If I had the space, I'd rather try to do justice to a single location without all the compression us modellers have to put up with! Edit: does anyone happen to know (roughly) how much space in 4mm say, Broad Street and associated station throat would take up? Having said that, maybe part of the fun is trying to squeeze it into 6 or 7 feet...

I just discovered the following text at: http://www.bloodandcustard.com/bloodandcustardhistory.html "The first yellow warning panels on the front of diesel and electric stock appeared in the early 1960s; an early example being Southern Region no.E6001 (Type JA) in 1962 - before it was repainted with a plain green front! However, it was not long before other new locomotives (such as the BRCW class 27) were being delivered with yellow warning panels." Maybe you could get away with it that early...

Off the top of my head, 1962 would seem a bit early for half/part yellow ends. If there is a definitive answer, someone here will surely know.

Rule 1. Well, if you can fit the entire ECML in a loft...

All these TRAINS...!!! I mean, come on guys... what is this, a model railway forum??? Oh. right.

DD, that wouldn't be Calella would it? Was there last year and it looks familiar. Took the train into Barcelona for a great day out. Pete.

37116 for no other reason than this image on Flickr taken at Norwich in 1987. I've never seen the warning yellow extended over the bonnet like that. I just like it because it's unusual! https://www.flickr.com/photos/10222197@N07/13358418104/

I've heard the search function doesn't work in Wheeltappers. I wouldn't want to have to go back through ERs to find something. I would imagine translating ancient texts took less time...

What an excellent idea! Robert..?

Yup, dull and wet here too. Page 3000. Wow.

For those of us north of the water, if you were in Becontree, it's pretty much due south...

Dave - thanks for uploading those pics of Havant, not just because it's an area I know well. Certainly shows the oily black look of well-used 3rd rail. I have to confess to being something of a lazy modeller... once I've blackened the 3rd rail, I don't do anything else to it - I just slide on the insulators. Having said that, when it's in place on the layout, I give it all just a quick blast of track colour, but that's more to tone down the bright white of the insulators. Looking at the pictures, next time I lay 3rd rail, I'll probably paint the insulators while they're still on the sprue because they're certainly not white - in fact they're almost invisible!