BelsteadLane

All good work going on here! Survey completed

The Triple Grey Trio are looking gorgeous Jerry. Shame 90047 couldn’t join them. Save best til last though ey

The modelling motivation has continued being up and down, with more recent times seeing a decline in interest - I just havn’t had the time or energy lately. Time really has been flying too, I didn’t realise that it’s been a month almost since I’ve posted… but here’s what I have managed to do in the last month or so. I re-addressed the flashing lamp on the JGA wagon. I didn’t really want to cover up all the weathering inside the wagons (especielly the PGAs) just to be able to get away with a train tech battery pack so instead, I tried out an Illuminated Models EOT lamp module. This featured the correct double flash rate for modern image and sits quite snug inside the wagon out of sight - perfect. The only downside was fitting pick ups but it was straight forward and it had a nice result. Nice, out of site wiring and no need for a load! with one pair of pick ups, the flash is unreliable as you’re relying on the track power - the track needs to be completely spotless. I tried adding a second run of pick ups which did improve things, but the running of the wagon was effected and it did derail. Fortunately, Illuminated models do the EOT module with a stay alive in it so I’ll be replacing it with one of those instead and should hopefully be able to run with just the one set of pick ups. And then all future wagons will receive the same treatment. Another Illuminated models product I’ve been messing with are the Bachmann Class 66 lighting upgrades. They’re replacement lighting PCBs which include the missing marker lights that the standard models don’t have - they also have the night time headlight but I havn’t bothered with (yet) These aren’t anything new with plenty of people already having shouted about them but boy, was I impressed. ‘Bug eye’ 66614 was the first in the fleet to receive its lighting upgrade. I’ll be doing both ends on all the 66s but so far, she’s only got the one end completed. Overall, I was very pleased. They’re a very straightforward kit and a must have for any Bachmann 66. I’ve got plenty of the kits for all my 66s which have different style of lights so it will be exciting to see different versions when completed. They’re crying out for resistors so will have a play around and hopefully make them even more realistic. 66614 is seen hauling the recently bought Dapol JNAs which were fitted with hunt couplings to bring them closely coupled together. They’re been fitted with standard couplings which, IIRC, we’re designed for the Oxford mk3 coach. But as you can see, these couplings bring the wagons buffer to buffer with <1mm gap. and how they were with standard tension locks! I was very pleased when they ran round the tightest circuit without derailing as I’ve never been able to run any stock closely coupled together. My guess is the kinematic coupling system which works wonders - I hope this becomes the norm for future releases. The JNAs still need weathering and loads and I’m quite looking forward to doing those when, again, I have the time.

The Greater Anglia Class 90 arrived home a few weeks ago with the rest of its set. It’s not finished yet with some details still need to be added and some bits to sort out - but overall, does look the part…

This is one of the reasons why i particularly love the Class 90. You can look at a fleet of them all carrying the same livery, and they will all have their little differences amongst them. The different coloured doors on the triple grey FL 90s are a good example. my favourites are the small family of Racing Green 90s - 90016 being ex Parcels so it has the smaller squared battery box rather than the bigger one with rivets on. 90046 appeared with a missing bodyside logo and was like it for several years. 90041 ended up losing its original cab front FL logos and lasted without them for a while and then only within the last few years gained new ones which are smaller than the originals… 3 different appearances just with some logos! I studied the EWS 90s around the 2004-2007 period and found that they had their differences amongst them. 90031 had yellow tmd sockets rather than orange and it’s cantrail was positioned lower than others meaning it would disappear underneath the roof and above the cab windows. 90031 carried rectangular freight buffers also. Compare that to 90017 which had the hexagonal pivoting passenger buffers, rubbing plate, different cantrail positioning and the usual orange tdm sockets. It just goes to show the importance of research and checking photos of a particular loco in a particular time period. Can’t just ‘rule 1’ it and renumber it only because you highly risk getting it wrong! Modern image modelling can be a pain in the backside because of this with all the things that change or come and go so quickly.

Can’t believe I’ve only just found you on RMWeb! Always liked seeing this layout on Facebook, it’s not often N gauge ‘wows’ me. Keep up the great work and I hope one day I get to see it in the flesh.

yes on ESU, think he only uses them but might be wrong.

thats odd. I’ve never had any problems programming any of mine, whether it’s the standard Bachmann decoder for the 90 or Biffo sound. I have a Gaugemaster prodigy Advanced2 so whether that’s something to do with it… I’ve had some decoders have a meltdown and nearly explode but that’s about it

very much in agreement. If Bachmann are working on some engineering issues perhaps they could swap out the servo for something more quieter while they’re at it! Perhaps Accurascale will let them borrow some being used in the 92

I suspect the reason we havn’t seen more liveries announced yet is because of the problems with the first lot we had - broken bogies, servo problems and problems with Class 90 decoders as well. In particular, I had bad luck with their decoders but never had anything else. I'm sure new liveries will come. We all just have to be patient and see. Virgin and Freightliner Orange I’m almost certain will be in the next batch of liveries. I’d say EWS would be a good guess too. But again, we just need to wait and see.

Wagons Wagons Wagons… Had a bit of a wagon fest lately. Lots of things going on surrounding them. My rake of Cavalex PGAs and some Bachmann JGAs were tremendously weathered by Tim from The Scrap Line weathering this month. He’s the man when it comes to rust. Very pleased with them and look superb running around the layout. Yesterday, I had my rake of the newly re-released Dapol JNA wagons delivered. These are very nice wagons and can’t grumble at all considering the price of them compared to competitors. No problems with them at all running round the layout. I decided on 13 but was informed that they run in sets of 5 so a couple more will have to be sourced! I’d like to get a couple of Bachmann MOAs to throw in as well as seeing the two types of wagon together are common - perhaps the MLA can be considered/reconsidered by Dapol and others? One wagon was made the dedicated ‘end wagon’ of the train and I removed the coupling mechanism, and fitted a hose and coupling with hook. Wasn’t keen on what came in the detail packs for these wagons so knicked the hose out of a cavalex pga pack and the coupling from a Bachmann 37. The hose has since been trimmed back and painted to tidy it up. Plans will be adding loads and weathering and the rear wagon receiving a flashing lamp. The axles and wheels are metal so should be a straight forward task. Plan is to use an Illuminated models EOT lamp board - costs a couple of quid and has the correct double flash rate. And will easily hide under a pile of ballast. Speaking of flashing lamps, I got round to adding one to a Bachmann JGA. The lamp is a dccconcepts one and it’s powered by a Train Tech AL4 battery pack. Programmed to flash the prototypical twice per second. The battery pack is mounted in the bottom of the wagon which is part of the chassis. The body of the wagon comes away easily by removing the bogies and undoing four screws underneath. So getting access to the battery in the future won’t be a problem. A dummy load will be made and glued permanently in place to hide the battery. Weathering the JNAs is something I’m looking forward too and will hopefully get its flashing lamp working in the future. The layout deserves to work to be done first!

there’s no partnership, GA’s fleet of 90s were transferred to Freightliner. 90003-90015 anyway. 001 and 002 went to LSL and now carry swallow livery. A lot of the ex GA 90s still have the old livery but they will all be getting repainted, some already have been repainted into the new Orange livery which I think resembles a lucazade bottle.

very much so, the mk3s and dvt are going to be with it so will have a full white/red set that’ll be the ‘signature set’ so I can’t have it not be fully prototypical. The dvt will have its lights corrected and the mk3s will have the usual work (correctly painted interiors, lighting, roof vents etc) so the entire set is faultless or as close as you can get. Then some Blue/White Ex ONE stock will follow along with some Grey/White Ex NXEA bits after those. Got the ‘pretendabellio’ set in the works with 90034 which I know is up your street Kat. By the end, the layout will represent a 2015 GEML setting quite nicely with any luck. 90001 is by TRS trains. He doesn’t take on repaints anymore as he’s started his Smoke fitting service which is doing him well. So Jerry will be the one getting my business in the future.

Something almost finished is this… A little bit different to the rest of the 90s on this thread. 90001 ‘Crown Point’ still yet to be named. some little imperfections here and there that need touching up but other than that, can’t complain. Then the finishing touches will be added before weathering. The best part is it has correct directional lighting with the bi directional markers and taillights. Only photo I’ve got is it with its body loose from the chassis so it’s not the best professional look!

Super work as usual Jerry, the two FL green 47s look so good!

Another update Thought now was a good time to post! Life for me has starting to improve at long last, gym is going really well and I’m starting to see and feel a difference already in my (I think) third week. Always a good moral boost and shows I’m heading in the right direction. Other aspects of life have improved as well, so hopefully things continue the way they are - I’m not quite out of the woods yet but I’m definitely starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. went to see Jerry over at Squirrel Rail HQ to catch up and pick up one of my models he had done some correction work too. He resprayed the fronts of my Bachmann 66533 to resemble a Freightliner 66 and not an EWS! Before it had the ‘v’ pattern on the buffer beam that EWS 66s have, whereas now it has a more rectangular pattern around the buffers and couplings and looks as it should! so thanks for that Jerry, can always count on him for resprays and even small jobs like this. He currently has my Bachmann 90047 which he is revamping and improving and also commissioning a new loco for the fleet but that’ll be a surprise for when it’s here! As far as modelling goes, the motivation has started to return and I have spent a couple of free evenings this week in the shed -It’s like an oven at the moment! It’s fully insulated but once the heat gets in, it takes a while to come back out again! I havn’t done anything majorly exciting, just ran some trains and replaced a piece of track that had buckled due to the heat - pretty standard stuff after a break! Fortunately, it was a relatively easy fix and as it stands now, the new track is down, tested, ballasted and weathered in with the the rest. Apart from that, the layout is still in good nick, working order and running smoothly which is nice to see. Time for modelling is very limited now, with Monday evenings and Wednesday evenings being the main dedicated nights as these are my gym rest days. By the time I’m back from the gym on any other day, I havn’t got the energy as you’d expect! Weekends are reserved for my other half as well… so progress will be slower than before but slow progress is better than no progress. Priorities will be a Layout Update for YouTube and then I’ll get stuck in on more OHLE building and hopefully get some more work done on the road bridge that is crying out to be finished now…

I highly doubt you will

Can agree with everything that’s being said here. Everyone can and does make mistakes but to me, the attitude that comes with fixing them is what matters. As long as it’s dealt with in a professional manner, I’m happy. I’m particularly fussy so can be a bit of a nightmare but am happy to give a bit of guidance on corrections because somethings are very easily missed that even I miss them at times. I’ve used three ‘respray specialist’ companies, including Jerry and also a fourth one if you include weathering specialists as well. I only use one for both now after either receiving unsatisfactory results or just having bad experiences with the other three. It’s pretty obvious who that person is… I wouldn’t be commenting on his RMWeb otherwise! Jerry certainly sets the bar and prooves that there’s ‘professionals’ and then there’s actual professionals. Which is a complete breath of fresh air in a community where there’s folk with falling standards. A big pet peeve of mine is people not using photos or paying attention too them when repainting or weathering a model. So many people DONT do it, it mind boggled me because if you follow a photo, nobody can tell you ‘you done that wrong!’ One company I even provided pictures to follow and they still didn’t follow them… good grief. I Came across Jerry after purchasing a 90048 model from him that my friend saw for sale. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve gone back to him now. Everything happens for a reason as they say! He recently done some correction work for me and is now currently revamping a 90047 model that a previous company didn’t do the best job with - I saw another 047 he done a few weeks ago for someone else and it put mine to shame! Can’t be having that… again, proves the difference between ‘pros’ and pros. I have a mk3 set with another company that will 9/10 chance need some tidy ups and corrections (won’t be asking who’s doing it to do it as I’m fed up with him but we will see when it turns up) but it’s nice knowing I’ve got Jerry as back up and I’d rather line his pockets rather than entertain some other idiot. even if it means paying out more money. Fortunately for me, Jerry is pretty local and is less than an hour away so I’m quite happy to drive to drop off and pick up. This also means I get to see the rest of his wonderful work and projects come together in person. Needless to say I’ve been very jealous of some of them! Jerry’s always been very welcoming from the very first time I met him, always offering a cuppa on arrival (which is music to the ears for a tradesman!) and although I always say ‘I won’t be long,’ I always end up staying for a good couple of hours! The conversations never die or get dull, it’s always good entertainment and nice to get to know who you work with which always makes the experience better. Unlike a lot of other companies, the work place is very tidy and organised which always speaks volumes about how someone works. So for those who may get concerned, take my word for it, you have no reason to worry! Thats my life story over. I thought this was very much needed and long overdue - as a tradesman who takes pride in customer service and satisfaction, you very rarely get to hear the good things about you so I thought I’d give a ‘mini review’ where most folks would see it! looking forward to seeing 047 And the EWS 66 Jerry, and I’m very happy with the 66 work as well. Cheers!

90028 is looking stunning Jerry! A proper job that one.

Great job on the interiors Jerry. I certainly feel for you doing those very tedious but makes the world a difference!

Hi Jerry thats great news about the 66. No rush with either of the two though!

hi michael Thank you very much for the kind words! I do try my best! Obviously, we never know what’s around the corner for us but life would be pretty dull if we did! Hope you’re well

Normally, breaks don’t last long at all for me but this time round was a different story! I did a bit of spotting when LNER had reintroduced 91s back on the ECML and got some rather nice shots and clips of 91106, 91110 and 91111 - I believe 91101 has returned to service again in the last week so I must get a shot of that too! these always tempt to me to get a 91 + mk4 set but they won’t fit into the layout of course. as for the gym, the two sessions I’ve done down there this week I’ve really enjoyed - I tried home workouts a couple of years ago but wasn’t seeing improvements after a good few months. But I certainly know why now judging by how my body has felt recently...

Been very quiet and havn’t posted an update in weeks. I did post one on my Facebook page a couple of days ago so some people will know the reason why, but for those who don’t... I havn’t done any modelling since the middle of April when I made the OHLE portal. After making it, I lost interest in the hobby and fancied taking a step back and enjoying my other hobbies. This lasted for around a week and then a downfall of mental health occurred which furthered the lack of interest and prevented it from returning which has resulted in this very long break. My work schedule has been flat out as well which isn’t helping things. Over the last couple of weeks, it has started to improve but it is still very ‘up and down’ as they say. The motivation has started to return which is a good sign but It does depend on how I’m feeling. My main problem at the moment is finding the time as work hasn’t quite calmed down yet and on top of this, I’ve signed up down the gym so I’ll have less time in the week to do modelling. despite all this, I did fancy spending some money that i easily saved over this break which i suppose is a positive to all this - everything has a silver lining. I treated myself to some new additions for the layout. One of them is a Bachmann 37409 ‘Lord Hinton’ in DRS livery. That’s another one ticked off the list. Will run alongside my 424 and 425 once it’s been fitted with sound. The other additions were these few Bachmann TTA wagons. Two BP and one Aviation fuel. I’ve wanted some of these wagons for some time and they are very rare According to a few people. So I’m quite happy my friend was willing to let me have these they're a common site in Ipswich Freightliner depot so these will fit right in. I’m debating getting a couple more and these will sit in the depot and get shunted around as you’d expect them too. I’d like to get some Cavalex TEAs when they eventually get here to sit alongside these as well. not much work required to these wagons, a simple debrand, a wagon renumber and maybe a touch of weathering/reweathering. The wagons are fairly clean in pictures I have saved of them stored in Ipswich depot. now these wagons are here, my 08 will finally spend more time on the layout rather than in its box. It’s been neglected for years! A better decoder will get fitted to take a stay alive and lights when the time comes! But I thought I’d get it out to pose. that concludes the update and why I’ve been quiet. Hopefully it’s not too long til I can post another. But only time will tell! I do have my plans for when my mojo is in full swing and these are to construct the ohle structures going either side of the road bridge. Then progress can be made on the actual bridge itself.

That 90047 is flawless. Mine definitely needs reworking!