markneilp14

16 hours ago, Dava said:

What a fantastic collection of Vectis layouts, a good reason to go to Warley this year.

 

Thank you 

Just to let you know Bembridge is only 11 foot long and is a micro layout. Perfectly formes and very easy to set up and pack away lus you do not get worn out with all the walking of the larger layouts!!!

Mark

22 hours ago, Dava said:

Thanks Mark,

 

I spent a while admiring Merstone & St Lawrence which had a lot of activity. Look forward to Blackgang again next year!

 

Dava

 

Hello Dava

Glad you liked the smaller layout. Merstone is out again this year at 2 shows Newcastle on the weekend of 27/28th July and Tolworth Show on the weekend of 9/10th November. The Newcastle show is just Merstone as the short 20 layout on its own but at Tolworth we will have the other module to add to Merstone which is Ventnor West Terminus.

Additionally i am also to be at the Warley show with my other IOW layout Bembridge which is coming out of retirement for the Warley 2019 show. The layout is also to have a general spruce up and freshen up with new fascias, lighting rigs and tidy up the wiring.

Mark    

24 minutes ago, Tony Teague said:

I quite like the concept of subtle background sounds; quite different to the continuous noise that you mention.

Tony

Thanks i think the background noise is enough myself. Less is more

Mark

On 17/06/2019 at 10:54, Tony Teague said:

 

I agree, however it re-enforced my view that "scale sound" in whatever form is not for me.

 

The speakers on board model locos just cannot reproduce a realistic sound, whether it is the deep growl of a 'Peak' or the staccato bark of an 8F as it pulls away.

 

As to the white noise of multiple locos on tick-over, I'm afraid that I just find it irritating.

 

(I'm sure others will disagree furiously!).

 

Tony

I personally do not like sound effects in model locos. Especially when i was exhibiting thee with a modern image diesel layout with 20-30 locos int he fiddleyard all chugging away in the background. It was a continuous din of rumbling. I was there with Merstone and St Lawrence which is entirely analogue. I do have a little speaker that plays subtle background noises of birdsong and cattle in the field. I did not use it though as the sheer reverberation of the noise in the tent from other DCC sound fitted layouts, the public and the full size trains out side meant that you would not have really heard it.  

Mark

On 15/06/2019 at 22:48, Dava said:

Apart from the excellent model rail attractions at Quorn, I'd say the trade stands, 16mm scale and LGB live steam at Loughborough was more interesting that the model engineering at Rothley.  No G1 or G3 in operation this year.

 

No problems with the car park at Quorn today.

 

Hello

The reason there is no gauge 3 there this year is that the blackgang layout does alternate years as otherwise it does become a bit repetitive and we also have other outings with Blackgang. Also i was at Quorn exhibiting my 00 layout Merstone & St Lawrence so i can not be in 2 places at once.

Incidentally the next two outings for Blackgang are 24-26 August at the IOWSR and 12/13 October at Aldershot(Farnham club show).

Blackgang is booked for the 2020 show at the GCR.

Cheers 

Mark

On 02/06/2019 at 23:24, Scottish-Exile said:

These Hornby Drax wagons were an eye-watering £83 on release exclusively to Hattons. As far as I know, they still have them in stock. Who would spend £370 on a wagon though

 

at those prices it would need to be free postage

Hi Paul 

Thank you for the information regarding the synchronizing of the two ends. Interesting reading. I have seen the run rounds at both ends of the FR and the loco been driven on one regulator only. I am interested in the sound card for the Double Fairlie. It will of course have plenty of room in the firebox area of the loco for the speaker as well.

I look forward to the release date of the sound card and please put me down for one when its available in the near future.

In the meantime i may end up purchasing another of your EDM loco kits at some point as i really liked the Double Fairlie kit. I think i said to you over the phone that the kit was a dream to build. Something along the lines of rattle the box and it all fell together superbly.  I will be in touch when time and money permits. I need to decide which one i go for as i cannot go for all of them.

Mark

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head  - BJ Thomas

Thank you i will await your further developments

Mark

Hello Paul

that would be of interest as i am hoping to get the DCC chip in and i can always go back in later to fit the sound card and speaker. There is lots of room inside of the firebox for the speaker. Let me know when you have it ready and the cost and i would be very interested. Incidentally does the loco sound chuff in time on both ends in normal operation or is there a distinctive chuff from both ends. If so would it sound too chatty in a model form?

I have also completed the first of 5 lots of lining on the loco............

Looking forwards to hearing from you.

Mark

On 23/05/2019 at 08:22, bike2steam said:

Bloody hell Mark, Newcastle U/T, that's a fair ol' distance from Alton, but Tolworth is a good show normally, Bembridge has been there before, along with nearby Epsom, and Leatherhead. 

Why aye man!!

Where are you located I’m doing a few shows this year. Next one is June 14-16 at the great central railway then July 27/28 Newcastle upon Tyne and tolworth in November 

I started the double fairlie in 2016 and I have finally got it running. Still need to sort out the dcc chip and it may well get sound as well yet. It has all wheel pickups with both engines driven and powered by 2 mashima 1630 motors with a high level roadrunner plus gearbox. It appears to be able to cope with 2 foot radius as a minimum curve. 

Now I can crack on with the last few bits including the other buckeye coupler. 

If you look on the link below to the layouts Facebook page you can see the work on St Lawrence thus far

Mark 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2174554029455311/

Hi chaps. 

Alex TM thank you fo rthe comments about the stock and the scenery al blending in so well.

Vectispete i am happy to give you some information if you want on the buildings etc. Please feel free to drop me a line. St Lawrence is going to be exhibited in June along with Merstone at the Great Central Railway on 14-16th June. Do come along and say hello.

Bike2steam, Hello Paul. Bembridge is set for a revival this summer with some TLC to be given and general tidy up before its first outing in 4 years tot eh Warley show in November.

Mark 

Thank you glad you like it

Mark

I built the original version of Blackgang in 2009 as i did not have a garden and i wanted somewhere to run my large scale gauge 3 models. The layout was originally built to 28' long and was built and designed to fit into the back of a small trailer and all the models in the back of my then VW golf. Over the course of a few years other regular helper from the Gauge 3 society all asked if they could build modules to run with Blackgang. So we now have a larger layout that in its largest guise can either be 80 in a straight line or 60 foot x 50 foot in a large L shape. The layout has been to Warley on a few occasions as well as the Isle of Wight Steam Railway and the Great Central Railways model show to name a few. There is no electrical equipment on the layout as all the locos are radio controlled with on board rechargeable batteries. I personally have 3 terriers, two 02's, a Hawthorne Leslie saddle tank, Thomas and a Wickham Trolley. I also have a loco at home that i am building slowly from scratch of an Adams Radial tank in full LSWR pea green.

When the layout does I like to allow other locos to run as well from my helpers. For two reasons 1 it gives variety for the operators and public and 2 as the helpers are coming along to assist me its only right i ought to make some concessions to allow other non IOW items on the layout. It also makes for a friendlier weekend at the shows.

Hope you like the pictures.

Hi I am a new member to Rmweb and I thought i would say hello and show you one of my three IOW layouts namely Merstone.

Merstone was featured in the April edition of the Railway modeller magazine. The location is roughly speaking in the middle of the island about 4 miles due south of Newport. The junction at Merstone was the midway point between Newport and Sandown on the former Isle of Wight Central railway route. There was also a branch to Ventnor west that headed due south from Merstone. When i first exhibited the layout in 2016 one of my fellow operators asked about making a module of Ventnor West to be added to the layout so we could have a junction layout with a branch terminus. The article on Ventnor West was featured int eh Feb issue of RM. Since the completion of the Ventnor west extension i am now working on a model of St Lawrence station which was a small request halt. As yet the full version with all 3 layouts has not been out yet but Merstone has been exhibited with Ventnor West or St Lawrence on a few occasions. Hope you like the photos.

Mark