Multigauge

A bit more modelling time this evening. 11 stages now completed. Bow formers and most bulkheads cut and fitted including the central stern section.

Love the tonal differences of the coping stones along platform 1 in the pic above; very realistic.

After struggling to find some modelling time for ages, I forced myself to sit down and start cutting. Over 40 minutes later whilst I watched a bit of TV, I managed to cut out the base of the puffer. I do like these Scalescene kits but they do take a while to cut cleanly.

The fencing & mill buildings look good.

That looks nice; bet mine doesn't end up looking that good 😂. Yesterday was spent gluing the printed sheets on to the various thickness of card. I may start the cutting process tomorrow if I have time before I leave for little jaunt to fens.

Hi Ray, Hope you're well. In a word no. Modelling time has been non existent for a while. Work and home life have put paid to that. That being said, I'm off now for a week so fingers crossed. I have downloaded a scale scenes Clyde puffer to build and hope to start making it today. Happy easter.

Great concept and well executed.

I bought a second hand Hornby 08 a couple of years ago and it still blows me away how well it performs on DC. Lovely slow speed, never stalls and looks great. It sits square on the track and moves smoothly without any wobble; it is also very quiet. I have put a DCC chip in and I'm not entirely happy with the performance as it seems to slow down on some sections for no apparent reason, and then speeds up. I also bought a second hand Bachmann 08 recently which hasn't seen much use yet, but when I test ran it, whilst I was happy with it, it didn't make me as smitten as the Hornby one does. I have a Heljan 07 which looks lovely, but I think its running qualities are only adequate - not a patch on either of the 08's - and it sort of has a weave/wobble to it. On the subject of couplings I like kadees. I like the way they look and operate. No, they are not prototypical (unless they are on coaching stock, old EMU's, EDL's of 33 1's), but they do look better IMO that tension locks. However, I have found on my short shunting layout that placing the magnets on even the slightest curve ends in unreliable operation. I have been trying to have a go with the BK method as alternative, but I can't seem to get the staples to adhere to the coupling tails very well; need more practice.

@PMPThanks for the link to the Peckett masterclass. It was useful. It now sits squarely on the track. I have found where the electrical fault lies and it is a loose wire to the blanking plug from one of the pick ups. Unfortunately I will need to solder the wire back on to one of the sleeved pins - soldering is not my strong point. Nevertheless, I will give it a go once I've gotten hold of a fine tip for my soldering iron. Cheers,

Hi fonts of all knowledge, Been cleaning the wheels on my Peckett with an old peco wire brush dodad and partway through it stopped working; I didn't notice any shorting. Placed it on the track and no luck. Took the body off to look for loose wires and no none found. Placed it back on the track and it worked. Continued to clean wheels and it stopped working again. Also noticed that it doesn't sit true on the track any longer - it seems to have one wheel above the rail! I suspect both are related... What on earth have I done? I have checked the blanking plate and it all seems to be secure. I have pulled it off, checked and plugged it back on again.

Some different stock to play with tonight. The 07 shunts whilst the 47 waits patiently on the tramway branch. Whilst I'm impressed with the level of detail on the Sonic ferry van, I am surprised you can't pose the doors open.

A video of some failed shuffling with the 07. And a quick bit of bagpipe action too.

A little bit of shuffling this evening with other locos other than the Peckett. I started with my Heljan 07. A lovely looking model, but it could have better running qualities. I'd hope it had a five pole motor and a bit less wobble, but saying that, my main gripe is coupling up to wagons using kadees; very hit and miss. Next up my beautiful Dapol B4. Wonderful runner, but again, the uncoupling a problem. I then turned to some larger motive power just for fun. Both Heljan and both run well, the 33 more suited to the layout than the 47, but neither can be used for shunting due to their size.

I think I remember it; I'll try and dig the magazine out in the next few days and let you know what one it was.

A fair bit of 'testing' this weekend to try and get the uncoupling reliable, and the running little bit better has proven successful. A small amount of work done this weekend on detailing the yard area too.

And finally, after getting access to the pick ups, and tweaking them, cleaning the wheels - both inside faces and running edges - I was buggered if I could get the pick ups back in place without bending them out of shape again! Off came the wheels - which made life a lot easier - and finally, I managed to get everything aligned and seated correctly, wheels back on, all tested and running well. Hurrah! Pig of a job all in all and I have another still to do 🙄

Well, after much effort, including strips of card, disassembling the buffer beam assembly on one end and a fair amount of grumbling, I managed to get the body off. I needed the buffer beam assembly off to use a hole underneath to stick a rod in to act as a lever!

Nice jumpering. Interested in your con rail boarding. Fortunately these days it seems to be little used.

I've found the wall kits a pain when it comes to gluing the flaps back. I've used pritt (others are available) and Rocket card glue. I'm not sure what the key is, but using self adhesive paper sounds like a winner..

I have a Hornby 08 that I'm constantly in awe of. The control on DC (not tried it on DCC yet) is simply amazing and I rarely get it to stall anywhere on my track which includes short Y's and a homemade sector plate. I have a peckett and a Dapol B4 too which perform very well too, but the former is not as smooth as the 08.

I only had a short section to lay and I opted to ballast and paint the track, then fit the con rail. It was a tad fiddly using the peco pots and code 60, but I got there in the end. I drilled out the holes and then threaded the pots on to the rail prior to mating with the sleepers; I used some pliers to bend the ramp end to shape and I was reasonably happy with the outcome.

@SRman cheers for the pointer; that's very helpful. I found one side frame came off very easily, the othe less so.

Found this thread useful but having the same problem in 2023. Already broken both the radio aerials! I really want to open it up to give it a service as it is running dreadfully; the contacts look a little skew on one of the bogies.

Did some more work today on the vegetation. Not completely happy with it, but a fair stab.