CloggyDog

Outwell Basin? Nope... Definitely Wisbech and Upwell, fiddle to fiddle via a nice simple plan, repeated 4 times to allow the 4 seasons and also 4 eras, from memory spring was 1900 GER, summer 1925 early LNER, autumn 1940s wartime LNER and winter 1950 transition to closure. I saw it a couple of times on the show circuit and thought it a very clever design, superbly executed and one of those instantly inspirational layouts. Edit Elmwell, was mentioned on here a while back BRM April & May 2000, must hunt those issues down.

I had similar with the Hobbycraft-sourced 5mm foamcore sheet on an H0 micro about 3' x 1'. Annoying, it warped badly enough that I junked the layout after less than 6 months. I'd used pva and hot glue (to tack things in place while the pva went off). I also sealed all surfaces (both faces of the foamcore) - I think my mistake was using a water-based paint as it warped after painting. I've seen Keith give a talk/demo on his foamcore boards at a show (CMRA skills day, most likely) and his boards were very well engineered from a higher quality sheet than the Hobbycraft stuff I think.

A little more progress to report, a set of scratchbuilt platform lamps, signage and the backscene now in place. The lamps used the Chris Nevard method, a length of 3mm bamboo rod, a nail and some plastic tube. The backscene used a panorama taken from Google Street View, played around with in MS Paint and printed across 6 landscape A4 sheets which were pritted together and trimmed to shape.

Enjoying a livestreamed set from Paul and Bethan of Brighton folky-punks Pog, playing a selection of newer songs, a very pleasant and chilled way to spend a Saturday evening

Here's the H0 ones I did to retrofit Lima Mk1s. Cut in 10 thou.

IIRC, the Mk1 Pullman used the standard Mk1 rubbing plate. I drew my H0 one up using the drawing in the Parkin Mk1 book, can rescale and ping it over if you want, pm me an email address.

It used to be the case that certain magazines' reviews included comparison data against the prototype's key dimensions.

Any chance of a link, please? Always interested in late-60s and early-70s FNoS pics to help with inspiration and detail for my little micro terminus Dounreay (sorry, sulzer71, I 'baggsied' that a while back )

Most of my TT stock is modern ready to run. DCC ready, decent couplers, fine wheel profile running well on excellent track. Even the kits are as good as (or better than) Parkside. But then, I am modelling Ceske Drahy

I'd go with UK outline models in TT (1:120) and H0 (1:87). And common-or-garden locos, not the flashy pacifics. Black 5/B1/Hall/S15, Moguls and Praries, 8F/2800/O4, 0-6-0 of tank and tender varieties. 08, 20, 25, 26/27, 31, 37, 40, 45 and 47. DMUs and a useable range of 'porridge' stock. Given the track standards for 12mm and 16.5mm are well established and used across the world, why perpetuate the legacy UK bodges of 3mm and 4mm scale?

Based on the BR weight diagrams for Salmons, the prototype dimensions are: Bogie centres 45' Over headstocks 62' Over buffers 65' or 65'5" (depending on buffer type) In 4mm, those equate to Bogie centres 180mm Over headstocks 248mm Over buffers 260mm or 262mm (rounded up to the nearest mm) How does the model compare, can someone measure one up and report back, please?

Mist likely the Barrowmore Club website: http://www.barrowmoremrg.co.uk/Prototype.html Scroll down about 2/3rds to on-track plant, its the 2nd PDF link there.

Hi Jon, I'm running my Portrait 1 off a Win 10 laptop, running Studio (originally basic, since upgraded to Business) I've plugged it both direct into a usb2 port on the laptop and (more often) via a USB hub plugged into a usb2 port. No problems at all. I think I've even tun it off my win7 netbook, though that struggles running Studio (Tbh, it struggles with most things!)

I've added the gangway rubbing plates to disguise the generic Mk2 style Lima used, with the infil bit then (fortuitously) forming the sliding door across the opening.

Hi Richard, thanks for the input. I'd considered a further inner layer to create a glazing pocket like you suggest, but that would make the sides even thicker, one option might be to have 2 inners in 5 thou to keep the overlays the same thickness as current (2 x 10 thou), though there'd also be an issue as the top lights are cut into the middle layer, where the glazing would need to go. In terms of the Lima donors, I'm planning to file/sand/smooth off all the surface detail and sand back such that the door seams disappear, then cut away for the larger windows (and any new or moved ones) to retain as much of the Lima side structure as possible, then apply the overlays at the top first, allow to set, then along the bottom edge, clamped in place to hold the curve. I cut another batch of test sides today, assembling the RMB and BCK sets, with a CK, BSK and SK to do tomorrow.

I'll have a look later, should be easy enough to rescale.

Yes, the Portrait will handle A4 no problem. The sticky mat it comes with is 8" wide and 12" long. The width is the limiting factor, but coach sides can always be aligned to make the best use of the cut space. I've even done an O gauge test side, given the length isn't limited by the cutting mat. I've also used it to cut long signage from a vinyl roll, I believe the max length is something like 10m! Mine is an original Portrait (manual blade adjustment, USB connection only) but it's perfectly fine for cutting through 10 thou plasticard and will score 15, 20 and 30 thou. It does struggle with 40 thou (1mm) sheet though. With the swivelling blade it came with, I get reliable results down to about 0.7mm width (for window bars, etc).

I've started a thread in the H0 section on my Silhouette-cut Mk1 side overlays

I had a delivery from Shapeways last Tuesday, it was held-up by the border delays in recent weeks, but did eventually arrive. I've enquired of a couple of German and Czech retailers of model trains in recent days, I think the consensus is 'we are waiting for some clarity'

Hi all, Desiring some more accurate Mk1 coaching stock for Dounreay, I've been playing around with some H0 Mk1 coach side overlays, cut out of 10 thou plasticard on my Silhouette Portait cutter. Andrew Knights and I have been bouncing ideas and test files between us, refining the basic concept. I've just assembled the latest test set of SK/TSO sides, comprising an inner with the just main window openings (toplights, main and door droplights) cut through, an outer with a simpler set of frames also cut through and the door seams and hinges scored and optional outer frames to represent the aluminium Beclawat frames fitted to the latter build lots and retro-fitted to a number of earlier builds. Assembled with limonene. I think they look rather good and give a nice 3D effect to the windows. Feedback, thoughts and crits welcome. Next job is to fit them to a Lima Mk1 donor which has had the sides sanded back and the new window apertures opened out sufficient to allow glazing to be inserted from inside after painting. I've drafted a good dozen Mk1 types in the Silhouette Studio software, one advantage of the Mk1 is that creating one basic set of windows and doors allows most types to be done. And these sides work out very cheap, 25p per coach (2 inners, 2 outers and a complete set of frames). I bulk buy my plasticard sheet, 20 A4 sheets of 10 thou for a tenner and I can get 2 coaches-worth on each sheet. Once I've ironed out a couple of minor niggles, I'll happily share the files for anyone with a cutter to try out. I already have scale-length BR1 bogie sideframes available as resin castings, although I've not yet worked up a suitable inner frame (it's on the list!) Cheers, Alan

I've cut Mk1 windows very similar to that as part of the H0 Mk1 sides I've drafted up. You'll need to take out the cut lines where the bars meet the outer and the centre bar. I just cut them in one go, on my Portrait (original version). For 10 thou plasticard, I set the blade at 10, force 33 and 3 passes to cleanly cut through the sheet. To get a better 3D effect for the sliding toplights, I do my sides in 2 layers, with the inner having the 4-hole toplights and the outer layer having just the cross bar (along with score lines for the doors, hinges, etc.) That gives a nice relief effect. If I want the later Mk1 aluminium frames, I cut and add those as separate pieces.

Santa (well, Shelley in disguise) has kick-started the stock I need and the plain 009 track is on order (to join the Peco points I won cheaply on ebay a wee while back), so I'll be making a proper start the layout in the coming weeks, using one of a number of 110cm Lacks I have to hand.

Herpa did the new GTW 'Danglewagen' in H0 a year or three back, unpowered but with potential. https://schwebebahn.de/en/tourism-activities/suspension-railway-model/ And joswood.de do the various river and street portals in H0 among their laser cut range. https://lasercut-shop.de/epages/22270.mobile/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/22270/Products/21057

The Helmsdale North and South Cabin diagrams are on the SignalBox.org site: https://signalbox.org/~SBdiagram.php?id= 537 https://signalbox.org/~SBdiagram.php?id= 536 Though both show 'amended 1989, so might be too late for your era? HTH

I've just done some hinge-location scoring (which were 1.5mm x 1mm) on some coach sides and my Portrait did those without any problem. This is a Ferry CCT side overlay in 10 thou plasticard. I would expect that the Portait would cut though, if needed. The hinge locations are visible along the 2 outer door seams, 3 along each. I've also successfully cut some H0 Mk1 sides, again in 10 thou, drafted by a friend and with the top light bars about 0.5mm thick, though they are fragile and probably at the limit of what can be cut without distortion.