AHW

If you're phito shoopping your captions - your crapping is a little enthusiastic.......

https://railsofsheffield.com/products/starter-set-rnli-shannon-class-lifeboat

I guess it depends on what motivates you in the hobby - running sequence or photos or building stuff. In your shoes I would consider altering the curves at each end - to allow the fiddle yard to be underneath a new scenic section - stock either descends into the fiddle lines at the end of its run - or ascends to run through a new scene. This new scene might be narrower than your station - just enough for four lines (no points) - perhaps the Nene Bridges - and the viaduct south of those - use the advice of Iain Rice and don't build what you can't see - you'd have the new scene at the front of the fiddle yard so you'd reach over it to access the tracks - but sit down and you'd just see the trains running across the bridges. A white background and you'd reduce the amount of photoshopping needed.....

Reading some of the responses re layout items - you may be interested in this supplier. https://www.dapr3d.com/ Currently on the Christmas break and has turned off their product pages to save confusion I guess. But if you dig around you can find these - I'm hoping to add the crane to my dockside once it takes shape...

You may be interested in this item which I found in a house clearance shop some years ago. There are several copies for sale on the web - London's Lost Riverscape - rather like a streetmap from the river taken in 1937. A very good source for the late Iain Rice's LDEs (layout design elements) if you wanted to model a river frontage/dockside although sourcing a ship model for 00 gauge seems to be hard work. What makes the book most interesting is that the authors have traced the working lives of the ships seen moored at the riverside - many of them lost to enemy action in the coming war.

It's a daily pleasure to log in and view the updates on this thread. As a young man I was obsessed with GWR branch lines desirous of that chocolate box countryside to obliterate the bleakness of my surroundings (I lived in South East Essex at the time). In my later years I am so glad that I 'found' the ECML which is now my 'hobby' of choice. Watching the running orders unfold on this layout never gets old. Luckily I am travelling to Yorkshire by train tomorrow so will get a few hours of the real thing.....

Someone tell that old lady her dog's in the back garden.......

Guys - I'm really appreciative of the suggested edits to the track plan. Suffice it to say it will remain as it is. (Here's the back story) These docks, on a tidal river in the fens were at one point very busy - today (in 1957) they are run down and have limited timber trade and some minor aggregate/mineral traffic. BR Eastern Region never downgraded the docks, or the junction which now is used for lay byes as the mainline in this area is down to two lines. Those of you looking at this with signalling expertise and querying, or thinking about the swing bridge - it has its own control cabin on top of the main turning span. I'm not sure if this cabin would control the signals protecting the bridge or if a dedicated box would be required. I'm hoping to avoid having two boxes and am considering a single box mounted over the lay by loops. My thinking is that land between the two loops of the river was tight and placing the box over the track negated that issue - also it gives the box height and visibility across both bridges - swing and fixed. Further comments welcome. I'm still absorbing the most helpful signal plans put forward.

I noticed this earlier and sent an email to BRM - in my opinion this was evidence that the forum site itself had been hacked by scammers hoping the vulnerable and confused would start clicking for prizes and hand over bank details when requested. Obvs the scammers had no idea how sharp, switched on, and technically cute Railway Modellers actually are......really wasted their electronic breath on this community.

Morning all. Sometimes there's nothing worse than a forum entry that starts, makes demands of the community, and then just goes dark. I'd just like to apologise for the radio silence on this topic. Many of you have viewed it and I have some very helpful contributions back in response to my lack of knowledge. I've been very busy elsewhere, but intend to return to this thread as soon as time allows and conclude it with the chosen solution. Thank you all for your patience.

Paul - that's really helpful - thank you so much. I'll digest this and then in all likelihood come back to you with some questions if that's ok.

Semaphore is the preferred option. Thank You

Control panel images

Hi All, I'm going to repost this one here in the hope it reaches a wider audience - hoping someone is ready with some knowledge that I don't have. Previously I asked for advice regarding point work for a DCC layout. You were very helpful. I now have need of signal experts. I have a track plan - I have NO idea where to put signals. I could spend hours (days) trying to find out - or I could ask people who've already done it got the t-shirt etc. My layout plan is basically a length of East Coast Mainline with two junctions (see images) allowing access to a small dockyard trapped on the bend of a river. Points and crossovers take traffic off or on the mainline into or from two loops. Inside the loops points and three double slips allow 'shunting puzzle' access to two sidings which are on the dockside. (I was asked for extra info which is; 1. Layout is based in the Fens - just north of Peterborough 2. The double track is the ECML - BR - May 1957 - so passengers and freight - (NB based on ECML - not a prototype location) 3. Line is ex GNR/LNER 4. This layout will be a groundhog day experience - 12th May 1957 is the time setting. (Allows me early and late crests - blood and custard and all crimson/maroon) Finally in this scenario the mainline speed is restricted because of a swing bridge - so my Pacifics will be able to rumble slowly through before picking up once off stage. Traffic in the loops will be either freights waiting for a path, or dropping off - picking up from the quay) I'm assuming that the loops and sidings can be controlled with ground signals? However the two junctions should need bracket signals. To complicate matters the mainline also crosses a swing bridge which presumably needs signal protection for the down mainline. (We can assume the up line is covered by a signal off stage?) To assist in understanding the above I enclose three images - a badly drawn 'sketch' of the overall layout, which will occupy four scenic boards, and a diagram view of the likely control panel - this is two images - note the panel joins together on the line A to B. If anyone is interested in making helpful comments I would very much appreciate it. Finally just to set the scene as it were - this is not a model of a prototype location - my interest is in making a good looking stage for running trains - but I don't want glaring errors in 'prototypical' operation to cloud the eventual product. On that point if anyone thinks the track plan is 'wrong' by all means say so - but I might not necessarily alter it (Yes I know some catch points are needed to protect the main line - removed for clarity) Many thanks - apologies for a long post. (I'll have to upload the images in separate posts below this one)

Afternoon all. Having actually now made a layout plan I am about to begin building. I have based my track plan on Peco code 75 track. I currently have plans for 16 items such as points, double slips etc. My leading question is whether to select Insulfrog - or Live Frog? I'm sure you guys have opinions - I would be very glad to hear them. For context the layout requires slow running, lengths of main line, loops and sidings including some on slight gradients. Look forward to reading your responses. Many Thanks in advance.

Wondering who else on here was using the website http://www.brdatabase.info/ Valuable searchable database of sheds, locos etc. I've used it extensively to research the ECML. Went to bring it up this pm for a question on the BR 2MT and it's no longer there. Anybody know about this.... or have any info. Many Thanks Two images - what Google used to show us - and what you get now...

So I would suggest that the reason for the tree's appearance is quite simple. The tree is close to the house. The lower half of the tree, more easily accessible from a standard gutter height ladder, has been regularly pruned/trimmed and the top half has not. The way you can tell is as follows. The lower leaves are quite dense but you can still pick out some individual branches which are short. The upper half of the tree shows lengthy branches in a more natural form - they have not been trimmed. If you consider the historical period being viewed here it makes sense. Someone who lived in the house wanted the tree kept under control, especially with a view to maintaining daylight. They were able to get at the lower branches more easily, possibly on a DIY basis. They cut them back hard, probably bi annually, and this encouraged lots of new growth, hence the dense leaf pattern. However they could either, not get easily at the top of the tree, or didn't think it through, or simply weren't bothered as the upper branches didn't obscure the windows. The other thing to think about here is that whilst many ordinary working people of this period took great pride in their homes and gardening was a very popular pastime, they didn't actually spend time 'outside' in the way that we do today. They went outside for tasks such as weeding, mowing the lawn etc but went back inside for tea. I know this for a fact as my great uncle, once an 'inservice' head gardener and occasional footman at a country house in Norfolk, visited me in his 80's. He loved to be in the garden, but only when 'on task'. When I persuaded him to stop weeding for a cup of tea, he insisted on sitting inside the house for it (as did his wife). Therefore this tree needs to a) look neat and tidy and b) not obscure the windows too much but c) doesn't need to look natural in the way we might insist on today. Obviously there are many historical images of people sitting outside taking tea etc, but if you dig into them you'll realise they were the people of leisure, not the poor sods who did all the work.

You need a plastic heron - herons are very territorial and aggressive - a plastic heron convinces the real one that the pond is 'taken'. Works for several of my neighbours who have very expensive fish ponds.

Well a strip down of the offending engine did not uncover much. There wasn't much of the white grease in the lead driving wheel plunger but some around the gear box. I've cleaned out and oiled as per directions. However this hasn't made much difference. I'm not that impressed with the mechanism to be honest and I'm planning to investigate other ways of improvement - I may look into swapping out the complete drive train. Thanks for the helpful comments - much appreciated.

Many thanks for this - really helpful. I was thinking of using some Trix grease on the gears - do you prefer oil....?

This is really helpful - thank you for taking the trouble to respond.

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere - I did search the site first but couldn't spot anything relevant. I own four Bachmann A1's - one brand new which seems fine on running in, and three second hand. I don't know much about the service record on those three and one at least seems a little rough - noisy - jerky and very wobbly. Whilst I'm good with my hands - I actually have very little experience of working on model locomotive mechanisms. Before I begin 'improving things' can anybody make any useful suggestions on this topic. Should I just swap out the motor/gear box for newer or can they be improved? Are the valve gears and drive rods likely to be an issue - can they be fettled to improve running? (Lubrication is an an obvious issue already covered) Many thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Evening all, Just as I sat down to begin a further set of planning I was struck by a curious thought - which led to a question? As I am currently unable to physically lay track on a baseboard (too much else in the way) I am totally focused on building a stock collection which will populate my layout when I finally get to it. Not content with filling drawers with boxes - I research and document my work in odd moments which has led to a curiosity about others in the hobby. Bottom line is I now have multiple spreadsheets allowing me to consider whether a new model will fit into my chosen time period and location (May 1957 ECML Fenland) with links to online resources such as https://www.brdatabase.info/index.php and https://www.modelraildatabase.com/. Unable to lay a point, or weather a line side structure when the moment takes me I can quickly open a sheet and double check if I want this item https://www.hattons.co.uk/98107/hornby_r3303_class_d16_3_4_4_0_62581_in_br_black_with_early_emblem_weathered_/stockdetail.aspx if it appears in a shed snapshot for May 57, or if it would need renumbering/naming. So my question is, and this was posed by my wife, am I the only enthusiast in the country running multiple data collection in this way or are there others out there? There you go - all excitement...

Morning, Of all the ideas for an urban layout in Mr Rice's book, his N gauge plan for a 'Calder Valley' type of scheme called `Bankdam Mills' caught my attention the most. It was ambitious but somehow simple in the track plan, but most of all looked as if it would be spectacular to view - the industrial worker's terraces climbing the hill side of the Pennines and the viaducts crossing the canal/river in particular. The use of gradients to create a hidden but easily accessed fiddle yard was also very intriguing. So my question for the community is, has anyone built it, or planned a layout on that basis? If you don't know the plan, its in this book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Designs-Urban-Layouts-Iain-Rice/dp/190287708X. (I hesitate to include an image of the plan to avoid any copyright infringement)

Sam’s Trains. Over 100,000 subscribers to the channel and 18,000 viewers in less than 24 hours for the last instalment. What that tells you is that he has consistently produced content that people want to watch. What it reminds me is that this hobby is a very very broad ‘church’ and that for every P4 specialist focused on reproduction of a prototype as an art form, there are dozens of enthusiasts watching Tornado rush round a small oval on a Hornby trakmat and enjoying the results. So Sam has his place, and he is welcome to it, although it may not suit you or I.