BelsteadLane

Got another OHLE structure constructed and in place on the layout last night. This time, I made a Mk3a Portal design and it was built as per measurements taken from a drawing by Clive Mortimore. Portals are more heavy duty than Headspans making them more robust and able to cope with wire tensioning. I thought I’d make one for this reason and also for a bit of variety. They were more simple and quicker to build than the headspans as well which was nice. 90028 came out to test wire heights. hoping to build a few more headspans over the next couple of weeks so then the bridge can stop being neglected.

All looking very nice Jerry. The Virgin one looking very cool indeed - should have left it unbranded though and gave it too me 90047 is a unique Skoda due to its green door, so that’s a very nice touch - real loco gained it in 2011 so technically I need it on mine (I was offered it when GC weathered it but for some reason, I turned it down) but as I’ll be reworking it to be modelled as it was in the mid 2000s, I won’t need to change it. I will however need to rework the weathering, add the depot plaques back on and remove the Zero Injury decals!

Something a bit more exciting - managed to get another pretendabellio coach through phase 1 of project NC64. FO 11018 now with roevac vents, a repainted interior, passengers fitted and Abellio branding.

This week, I’ve been working on the new JGAs making them more prototypical for the era I’m modelling. this is what they looked like when I bought them And here is what they look like now First, the weathering was removed and I done this to different degrees on all three wagons. One wagon had the vast majority of it removed so it was near enough clean. One wagon, I just cleaned up around the data panels. And one wagon had its weathering removed to resemble a wagon I saw in a photograph. Doing all this made a big difference - in particular, cleaning up around the data panels (which they always are) massive improved the factory weathering! the cool thing with these wagons is that no two are identical meaning you can get creative with the weathering. 1) the ‘clean’ example 2) factory weathering with cleaned data panels 3) wagon cleaned up as per a photo which is below it. Focusing on the grime and how it tones down the orange. Once weathering was removed and I was happy, the RMC logos were blanked off. One wagon became the dedicated ‘last wagon’ of a train so couplings and nem socket was removed and pipework was added. An EOT lamp to follow once further weathering has been added. Finally, the graffiti was added and i used Scale Model Scenery transfers for them. I’d love to try some hand painted graffiti or some smaller ‘tags’ which can always be added later. It’ll look more convincing. I also took the time to detail them a little by painting the axle boxes and door actuators red as per the photos and I removed the platform steps. here’s the results of all of all three wagons and how they look now. Im really happy with how these wagons are looking, it was an enjoyable mini project. It goes to show what can be achieved with a little effort and how simple it is to improve factory weathering - even for someone with little experience. The wagons aren’t finished yet though, they’ll be going to my good friend Tim at The Scrap Line with the PGAs for further weathering and finishing touches. They’ll look even better then! I do want to get some more of these wagons as they were fun to work on and very nice wagons. Only annoying thing is how different they look depending on time periods meaning the slightest differences dictate whether it’s right or wrong on a layout - the wagons will technically be wrong for my current layout but I’ve ‘future proofed’ them for the next layout which will be more backdated to the mid 2000s - the wagons in their current state once finished will be more prototypical for that era!

Over the last month, I gained some really nice new additions. The biggest one being the rake of 21 PGA wagons from Cavalex. I was star struck with these wagons, they’re easily my favourite ever purchase I’ve made so far. They look stunning and run perfectly. These wagons will run with my EWS/DB sheds in the future so I can model the DB operated sand and other aggregates trains from Ipswich Griffin Wharf, Barham, Marks Tey and Kennett Redland. An EWS/DB shed is yet to enter the collection so a GBRf one will have to substitute for now. Another addition, and the most recent one, is a few Bachmann RMC JGA hoppers. These will be getting ran or mixed with the PGAs to make more prototypical trains. The JGAs came with factory weathering but this will get removed. They also need to have their RMC logos painted over to blank them off and one of the wagons will be receiving an EOT lamp and pipework to be a dedicated rear wagon of the train. Both the JGAs and the PGAs will then get sent to my good friend Tim from The Scrap Line on YouTube who’s a magician when it comes to rust weathering! So I’m very excited to see how they turn out. The final addition was 66731, the GBRF shed in the pictures above. I needed another one to run alongside Sense and this one came from a friend at a good price! Being it’s less celebrity appearance carrying ‘interhubGB’ in standard Europorte livery rather than Captain Tom Moore in Thank You NHS livery, it suits the layouts time period better. The model came with weathering which I like the look of, so it was a matter of chipping it and it’s sorted for the layout

The last month has been a bit all over the place for me, work was busy, modelling was very hit and miss, the mojo kept coming and going for reasons I won’t say so I didn’t get much done at all. Hence why the very long gap in posting. In the times I was up for doing some modelling, I was working on the mainline getting it finished and ready for OHLE installation. Some pieces of track needed replacing or realigning due to some running issues. Once those were sorted and re-ballasting was done, the track was weathered at long last, thus meaning all mainline track was weathered. the track was weathered using a different method than usual - first, I spent a few hours painting the rails and chairs, and then the ballast was weathered with watered down black and burnt umber paint. Sleeper grime snd roof dirt were then airbrushed over to tie it all together. This part of the mainline I wanted to be not as heavy than the rest of the mainline, and the watered down paint method is certainly a good one for that effect. Some new Berko 4 aspect signals were fitted as well, replacing the old 3 aspect singles I had down previously. As mentioned above, the mainline is now ready to have ohle structures installed on it, so I’ll be working to make those pretty soon. Then I can also make some nice advancements on the bridge!

Lovely work as usual Jerry. Might have a little something for you to do for me so will message you about that now we can travel and meet up. keep up the good work!

now that just needs to be shoved with a blue nxea mk3 set!!

my 90 wish list is Anglia based liveries - One, NXEA, GA but I’m certainly pushing my luck there. A virgin one would be very welcome indeed so I can debrand it ... and they’d be useful for Anglian respray donors as after all, they carried virgin colours when they transferred over. personally think virgin stands a very high chance with Virgin being a popular livery amongst released rolling stock. Freightliner Racing Green also on the wish list as there’s currently no decal packs available with the correctly sized five-fanned bodyside FL logo or the logos on the fronts underneath the cab windows. id imagine FL G&H would come along before Racing Green does though.

Dark colours and simple liveries get my thumb up. A livery that resembles a colour palette or loads of fancy patterns is very unattractive in my eyes. With that being said, I don’t think the 90 has ever looked bad in any livery it’s carried.

Can’t believe I’ve only just found your thread will! glad I have though. all looking very good and hope to have another visit once restrictions allow

Top notch work on those stunning 90s as per usual Jerry! Makes me want another one but I’m being good!

that’s awesome. And thanks for the kind words! I do wish I modelled 2004-2007 though rather than more recent years. The One/Anglia transition era was very interesting and is my favourite ‘TOC era.’ The next layout will be more focused around this era but I’ll still keep my Abellio stuff.

All looking very nice - you reacted to me comment on Squirrel rails thread and your name made we think I better check you out. Lots and lots of Anglia Railways, love it! Nice to see another Anglian modeller. I’m a bit more modern then you though! Will be watching this thread with great interest and inspiration for when I backdate to the Anglia/One transition era.

That’s one Pretendabellio mk3 through ‘phase 1’ of Project NC64. Phase 1 includes new roof ventilators, Abellio greater Anglia branding, new custom painted interiors and passengers fitted. All the coaches will go through Phase 1 before phase 2 begins. This will include Renumbering relevant coaches, interior lighting, Laserglaze, detailing and weathering. chuffed so far!

Hi again. measured the distance between the rails on my mainline. They seem to differ in places but that’s down to my poor track laying. It was roughly 40mm give or take a few mm in places where it looked the ‘best.’ Totally way out i actually position a piece of track roughly 24mm (6ft in OO scale) away on the track on my diorama and was totally shocked at how close the two tracks were. No way in hell would that ever work. I guess like I said before, you need LOTS of room to model a full scale curve in any scale - probably a bloomin great warehouse. Judging from my own observations, 40mm should be a nice looking appearance for your ‘6ft’ which in this case is a scale 10 ft! The joys of compromising I suppose. Ultimately, you want them as close together as possible, but far enough apart so you don’t get any crashes on bends.

Get that ‘Guner’ on a set of Anglia Mk2s right now

i realised what you meant soon after. Most railway terminology flies over my head still sadly Im not sure what the distance between the two tracks is. I’ve never measured it. The trouble is, when I layed the track, I didn’t know anything about the real railways, the set ‘too scale differences of things’ or even about different types of track - to me, track was track which is why it’s all wooden sleepered and not concrete. I just laid the track and done whatever looked fine too me and if it ran fine then great! If I was to guess, it’s probably around a scale 8ft which would make it around 36mm apart but I’ll get a measurement in different places and get back to you on that one. In my honest opinion, if I was you, if it is too scale, and the trains run fine without crashing, just leave it but it’s your layout at the end of the day. Remember, track in OO scale is a nightmare because nothing about is correct and you need to allow plenty of room to allow trains to run in either direction without crashing or hitting eachother, especielly with tight bends or setrack. The tightest bends on the real U.K. network are still nowhere near as tight as a ‘realistic’ bend on a OO gauge layout. You need a huge amount of room to get a true ‘too scale, realistic bend’ in OO and even N Gauge.

not quite sure what you’re asking here... all my track is OO code 100 and OO is 16.5mm rail to rail. It doesn’t change throughout the layout. It sounds to me like you’re wanting to ‘increase’ the gauge which would mean stepping up to EM or P4... no jig was used because there’s no need for one, all the rails are held in place by the sleepers. If I’ve got all this totally wrong then please correct me or elaborate more with what you’re trying to say please

Progress on the layout currently has slowed right down so has been put on the backburner for now. the replacement Berko signal arrived but I’m still waiting for the replacement IRDASC to control it. I tested the new signal using the old IRDASC (which is programmed to power a 3 aspect signal only) and it seem to all work as it should so I went ahead fitting it in and ballasting the new pieces of track. Weathering will wait until the new IRDASC so then I can have full confidence in the new signal. In the mean time, this gives the opportunity to focus on rolling stock projects and the pretendolino/pretendabellio has taken priority. I sorted another coaches roof and spent most of my free time painting up some interiors. Managed to paint up the first interior for the TSOs and I’m pleased with the turn out. As per, I followed pictures of the real things - they were quite hard to follow due to the alternating seat colours but I got there in the end. A very colourful interior indeed! as I mentioned before, these were designed to fit straight onto a Hornby Mk3 chassis making them ideal and perfect replacements for the wrong standard Hornby interior. another four of these to do so hopefully I have brain cells left over by the time I finish them... I thought I’d get a First Class interior painted up too so I can get one of the FOs sorted out. I used the standard Hornby interiors for these as the 2+1 seating arrangement is correct - I just wish they made the effort with the tables! I did toy with changing them but this would have meant cutting the old ones out and then fitting plasticard to reinstate the floor and it would have been a bigger job for what it’s worth. The tables don’t look too bad anyway once painted. Once again, followed photos from the real things and another happy result. Not as colourful as the standard interior but certainly more sophisticated and cozy. Got another two to do like this. I’ll continue with these interiors as well as the roof modifications and swap between the two as I go to try and keep me motivated. Hopefully, the new signal IRDASC turns up soon too!

Indeed, EWS 90s were common hire ins for several years on the GE! Got a photo saved of 90017 along side an anglia 86 at Norwich. Nice to see it prototypically modelled with the rubbing plates and squared retractable buffers. Also have photos of 90031 and 039 too both in EWS livery. But strangely enough, these have the rectangular buffers and their rubbing plates removed! 031 also having yellow TMD sockets rather than orange ones. All these little differences between the class and liveries I always like and it makes them unique. Regarding the Hattons shed - I had a feeling there would be a lack of varnish! But I guess it makes life easier when you actually want to remove the decals!

Just the usual check in! 90017... my word, that is a beauty! Very jealous of that, hope my future EWS Skodas look like that also interested to see how the two GNERs turn out as well! Nice to see a bit of Anglia on the work bench, a bit of home for you Jerry! With regards to the Hattons 66, what was removing the transfers like? When I weathered a couple of their FEA wagons, I went to remove the weathering from around the decals and ended up removing some of the decals by accident! I think I was using quite harsh thinner though and I didn’t varnish the model beforehand either (classic schoolboy rookie mistake but I was inexperienced at the time!) I havn’t weathered one since but do varnish everything prior to weathering now... reason I’m asking though is im wanting to model 66505 which has an offset Freightliner logo on one side. I’m debating use a Hattons model for it, I do want to get another one but they seem a gamble when purchasing at the moment due to their issues! I need to build my faith up in them before I buy so I may even just go with a Bachmann model. But if I do get another Hattons one, I don’t want a pigs ear of it and I hope the decals are a bit more secure than what they were on the wagons!

Nothing majorly exciting happened over the course of last week. had to replace a few sections of track as one had become damaged (god knows how) and the other needed realigning. Took up some items of detailing too to make room for the future scenic break road bridge and I also replaced the old 3-aspect signals for 4 aspects as these were more realistic and work better for my layout. Like the old signals, the new ones are made by Berko. sadly, only one signal worked and the faulty one I took apart to investigate to see if I could fix. I couldn’t fit anything wrong - but of course, I then couldn’t send it back so I accepted defeat and took the loss on the chin. Will send them back straight away next time! Also had to order a new IRDASC-4 module from Heathcote Electronics to power the new 4 aspect signal. The old signals and old IRDASC have been sold though so at least I get some money back... once the new signal arrives , fingers cross it works, then reballasting can commence and then I can get the track weathered to complete the mainline. It’ll be ready for OHLE headspans then. Started filming another video for YouTube covering the mainline completion and I’m hoping to get it out by the end of this week! ————————————————— Some more exciting stuff now though. My 153 was fitted with sound, interior lights and door warning lights by Roads and Rails. Was very pleased with it all but the interior lighting is a bit too bright for my liking still. Just waiting for the CV setting to be sent so I can adjust it myself. I just had to get the 156 out to pose alongside it! —————————————————— I picked up some new Dry Rub Down (DRD) transfers from a friend at the weekend and spent a couple of hours applying them to some items of stock to give them Abellio Greater Anglia branding. One of them being the Class 153 which I’m really happy with! Also applied them to the Pretendolino DVT and a Coach. I was very impressed with the DRD transfers. Very easy to work with, no varnishing beforehand and no having to worry about backing film making them much better than water slide for this type of thing. The hardest part was getting them in the right place! —————————————————— Something else that arrived are some new 3D printed coach interiors to go into my pretendolino TSOs. These were 3D printed by Jason Hannant, who’s done quite a lot for me now. I wanted the correct seating arrangement in the TSOs as the Hornby models feature wrong, first class 2+1 seating. The TSOs need 2+2 seating. These new interiors were designed and made to fit the Hornby Mk3s used for the pretendolino. They come in 3 seperate parts - he can only print items up to 100mm long but none the less, he’s done a great job on them. I love the luggage racks within them personally! —————————————————— With the arrivals of the AGA decals and the new coach interiors, it’s made me very motivated to get the Pretendolino set done this week. Or at least, the vast majority of the work complete. So that’ll be the aim for this week and will do this in between tasks on the layout like waiting for the new signal and for ballast to dry.

Not in a hurry for it, also want a blue set doing as well as 90006 ‘Roger Ford/Modern Railways Magazine’

Absolutely beautiful work Jerry. Those 90s are stunning! fancy doing me 90012 ‘Royal Anglian Regiment?’ my favourite Anglian 90 of the fleet!