wireman

More visitors to Coleborne this week causing some confusion amongs the spotting community. First, a Thumper at Wimhill. Frantic thumbing through note books could find nothing like it. Even more alarm came amongst the noise and lack of steam when an HST appeared at Coleborne. These two, plus the resident Class 47 are sound fitted so a noisy evening was enjoyed. On my return home, I immediately checked on Brampton road for such strange things but was relieved to find all in good order. Mind, that third rail seems to be constantly increasing. Regards Brian ( wireman ).

I prefer to prepare and fit one length of rail at a time, after fitting the insulators and drilling enough holes, I dry fit the length. This enables me to see any mis-alignements, or rogue ballast which may be in the way but has been overlooked and to make sure I'm happy with the way it looks before glueing. Next, don't forget to slightly bend down each end to simulate the ramps for the collecting shoes. I have used Super Glue to fix my rails, using a broken .5mm drill in the pin chuck to dip into the glue and place in the holes. I use Super Glue here because of its rapid drying time. Normaly doing 5 or 6 holes and fitting at a time, moving quite quickly along the length. I normaly drop 5 or 6 drops of glue into a small container then replace the cap on the bottle. I am sure most modellers wil appreciate the dangers of Super Glue if allowed contact with skin and the respiratory problems if fumes are inhaled. Go carefully, many a happy hour can be had peeling PVA glue from fingers, but Super Glue is dangerous. In this picture, the rail on the left of the platform is the one I am just completing. I was not sure how long a length of third rail could be on the real thing , so here, after fitting two lengths, Only one end of each length had been bent and once the insulators were glued, i slid the two lengths together with a tiny amount of glue to form a but join which is almost impossible to see. I am very pleased with the visual results of my fitting a 3rd. rail, if it is correctly laid over the slip and points I don't know. I refered to many sites on line before starting and became more confused the more I looked at. I am quite happy if anyone can point out any major flaws and would conside correcting them where possible I quite like the idea of concrete cable ducting. Maybe !!! First put everything back where it should be and have some playtime. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

A few points which I had forgotten to mention about the above pictures. Code 60 rail is quite fine and has a tendancy to have a mind of its own when fitting insulators as shown in the first picture. Perhaps a cork or blob of blue tac on the loose end could prevent an eye injury. If your length of rail is for a curve, it helps to curve the code 60 roughly to the required shape before fitting insulators. This will help final fitting to the track considerably. The fitting stems on each insulator are quite long and I found that by reducing them to about half their length makes fitting much easier. Bear this in mind if you are going to use the supplied spacers. The insulators as supplied are the correct height for code 75 track and the spacers increase the height for code 100 track. Before starting this project, I fitted a short length of track with 3rd rail, just see how things fittted, drilling holes, spacing etc. As the 3rd rail height came above the code 100 track without the spacer and it looked right I decided not to use them. Also,at this stage I also tried to make a small jig to help position the fixing holes. This proved very time consuming and fiddly and I eventually opted to just judge the drilling point by eye. The plastic sleepers are quite soft and a .9mm bit in a pin vice is all thats required. The rail lying on the ballast behind the drill is the length that is going to be fitted into the holes being drilled here, the insulators have yet to be spaced correctly. More to follow. Regards Brian. ( wireman )

Now into September and so far no progress has been made on the 3rd. rail instalation since May. However, a recent donation from a friend of two lengths of dode 60 rail, has prompted the purchase of another pack of six lengths plus another pack of insulators. The aim being to 3rd. rail platform 2 and the carriage siding. Having followed the Peco instructions re. part seperating the insulators from the sprue and then painting the rail holders ok. Fitting the then seperate insulators to the rail is quite fiddly, so, with the insulators still attached to the sprue, placed on a flat surface, I have been holding the length of rail upright , pressing the end into the insulator, lifting the whole from the bench , then snipping them off. Gradualy pushing them along the rail length. Using a spacing of one insulator per every four sleepers requires about 22 per length. I always add a couple in case of casualties during fitting. Next is drilling and fitting. ( to be cont.) Regards Brian ( wireman ).

The last couple of weeks our visits , summer weather and other things , have been in the evening . Despite a slightly shorter time being available we are still able to manage at least three tea breaks , and put the world to rights. It has always been difficult to see trains in the storage lanes without lifting the Wimhill boards. Two weeks ago Graham produced a 5 metre length of LED's which have now been attached to the frame work which supports Wimhill, being switched on by a micro switch activated on opening one of the drop down flaps. The reason for using the micro switch is because he just happened to have one. The days of a ten minute search for the torch are over. The next pics. are of Grahams latest addition to his own layout. Class 24. D5149. Sound fitted, all adding to Nicks anxiety about Graham and I. Who knows what next week will bring. It's about time Scott paid another visit with some of those yellow things he seems so keen on. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

An operating day at Coleborne this week plus Grahams new Bachmann 121. Excellent detail and sound although Nick is beginning to depair of both of us. Graham had only received the unit in the post that morning, so much playing with the various sounds ensued. All in all, excellent. The long awaited new Prodigy handsets have now arrived and fitted so this will allow up to four drivers at any one time or one driver driving four trains. ???? I now have a phone with a much better camera but what is really needed is a much better photographer. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

Normal Bank holiday weather limited our walk at the quay this morning, opening the car door against the wind was challenge enough. Good to see visitors back in town though. On the bright side, I cleared the area around the engine shed to be able to continue 3rd. rail installation. Every thing not glued down was removed plus, during the work, several things that were glued down were also removed. This time, after cutting the rail to the lengths required, I gave them a coat of primer to help the painting once installed, plus, as I am unable to paint the rail sides which can't be seen once fitted, my thinking was at least they would not be shiny on that side. This made sliding the insulator pots along the rail a little more difficult. Was it worth it ? Not sure, not something I will do next time. The Peco instructions suggest a .8mm drill, to fit the insulators, I thought this a bit tight and used a .9mm. Despite the small size, non were broken drilling all the holes although one became unusable after using it to put super glue into each hole. I have now run out of rail, so for the time being the third rail runs only into the bay platform. Something which was not unusual on the southern. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

Straight out of the box. Excellent. Regards Brian. ( wireman )

I have obtained more Peco 3rd. rail insulators and have two lengths of code 60 rail so a little more 3rd. rail can be added. In the mean time, the second handheld controller on order since December has arrived. Just in time to run the inaugural electric service into Brampton road. 414 with Zimo sound chip. This 3rd. rail is addictive. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

I could not find a picture of 31869 before weathering, but have received one today from Nick which he had taken before starting work on it. So, instead of a before and after, we have already seen the after so here is the before. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

31869 back at Brampton Road. Once again, many thanks to Nick for a really good job. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

In a rash moment, I made a start on fitting the third rail. So far, it has been easier than expected although I had seriously under estimated the quantity of insulators and code 60 rail that would be required. As with many other items at the moment, both these items are in short supply every where. I have solved the problem of track cleaning without damage to the third rail and will post a couple of pictures of my solution soon. Regards Brian. ( wireman )

First picture of weathered 31869. Loco is still over at Coleborne Junction and I will probably collect it this week. Looks really great, so different to the engine I took over there last week. Once again, another great job Nick. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

30799 Sir Ironside fresh from the spray booth ready to join the ever growing stock of weathered engines. Looking forward to the next project. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

The engine shed has returned from a visit to Coleborne Junction where Nick has performed his excellent weathering on it. Most of this was achieved with just a charcoal stick and soft brush plus a light misting on the inside of the windows with an airbrush. I have just fitted the Q1 in this picture with a Zimo sound chip, with sound file from Youchoos. My favourite sound fitted loco at the moment. Still undecided about fitting the 3rd rail electric. I have fitted a short length of track with isolators and conductor rail and have realised that track cleaning may become difficult once this is fitted. However my Bachman N class is now at Coleborne Junction and this may well be sound fitted in the future. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

If the old shed had to be lifted off for any reason, it could be repositioned easily by aligning with the oil drums etc set along side. These had to be repositioned to fit the new shed. The shed is rather crowded in this picture. Must be a Sunday. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

Last year, having seen pictures of the re-vamped Metcalfe engine shed, I bought the kit to replace the present shed as it was looking a bit faded and needed updating. I actual bought this kit last July /August but only actually opened it couple of weeks ago. Quite straight forward to build, although I had assumed the new kit would be the same size as the old one, it is slightly longer and wider. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

The cows have received a coat of mat varnish and thoughts turned to the far side of the tunnel entrance. A few years ago, before I changed to a terminus station, I purchased an N gauge Norman Church kit. The idea was that this would be just over a hill and give a sense of depth to the scene. Two problems. It was to big and there was not enough room, so the remains went back in the drawer along with other things that would be useful one day. Whilst building the tunnel entrance kit, I had the idea of using the church tower as a folly / ruin in the distance. Although in N gauge, it looked much to big, so the size was reduced by copying on my printer to about 80%. This looked ok but would need trees or something to give the illusion of distance. A phone call to my Coleborne Junction cohort Graham produced two suitable trees. Whilst doing this, I also sorted out my small tools drawer. This was not part of the plan but as I had dropped said drawer on the floor with bits everywhere, it did seem an opportune time to do this. Regards Brian ( wireman ).

Plymouth, waiting to back on to its train at Coleborne Junction. Regards Brian ( wireman ).

My post on Tuesday made note of the delay in paint delivery, it did actually come early. Nothing can be trusted these days. I did however manage to plant a small length of Peco wooden field fencing. This was required as I had been given a packet of four cows on my birthday last year and decided they needed a suitable field. They are rather shiny at present but will soon receive a spray with a coat of matt varnish. Regards Brian. ( wireman ) This was not my only present, but the only railway related one.

Some how, the announcement of another lockdown was interpreted by my wife as, our hallway needs decorating. Obviously, staying in is the sensible thing to do and coupled with the bitterly cold weather it has proved an oppertune time to start this. However, to day a drastic change from freezing to plus ten degrees, together with a couple of days delay in paint delivery has meant a short time in the shed was possible. The allotement, removed during the conversion to a terminus layout, was glued in its new position and various other bits of static grass and bushes have been added. The next step will be to finish the bank on the other side ot the tunnel mouth. Back to the hallway. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).

Happy New Year to all. Yet another Lockdown prevents any visits to Coleborne for a few weeks again, but modern ( to me ) technology enables Nick to send weathering updates frequently. This time it is West Country , Plymouth, which has been the the receipient. Looking forward to our jabs, and possibly some return to normal. Best Regards. Brian. ( wireman ).

Last week, following all the rules and maintaining safe distances, the three of us met for pre. Christmas coffee and mince pies. I had taken my new class 73 and my own Gaugemaster DCC handset and we had a short running session. Unfortunately, athough my 73 had chance to stretch its legs, I didn't take any pictures there. The pictures here are of recently weathered 73050 with a freight entering Coleborne Junction. It is with mixed feelings that I come to the end of the year, but ever hopeful for 2021. Thanks to Nick and Graham for their comradeship, making the best of the situation and to wish every one as best a Christmas as they can but please, all stay safe. Hopefully a few exhibitions in 2021. Regards Brian. ( wireman ).