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After a few technical problems I have now set up a model railway forum aimed at modellers in the north east of englend. The forum can be found at http://nerm.freeforums.org and all NE members are welcome.

I will post some better ones to the RMweb gallery when I get a spare 5 mins it was just easer to copy and paste when posting on the other forums im involved with. Currently I have 14 days to get my layout sorted before the Jarrow show!

Portishead AC lines EMUs Class 89 What makes you think I have been lent a better camera !

Tonight I have been given the ok to exhibit the extended layout at Jarrow in 5 weeks time so looks like im going to be busy over the next couple of weeks !

Thanks for the comments. At the moment I can not afford to have the website hosted anywhere. Hopfully one day westcoast miniatures will be sucessfull but in the mean time we will have to do it ourselves. At least there are no adverts like the ones that I kept getting with the old site on webs. From today the site has been moved on to a linux PC and is running much quicker.

Hi all we are having problems with the PC that the westcoast website is run from. The problem is that it keeps switching itself off !! A new motherboard is due to be fitted that will hopfully cure the problem and in the meen time an earler version of the website is running as a back up. This will be replaced with the latest 52 page version tonight.

This weekend has seen the construction of a second module for my AC lines project. AC lines will be my future exhibition layout and will incorprate Potters Lane as part of the line up. The idea is for a group of modules that bolt together to form an intresting display of different scenes that feature snapshots of the 25kv electric network.

Just to let everyone know I have updated the westcoast website again at the weekend. I have added a couple of workbench pages as well as a couple of more pics of Portisheads canopy. www,westcoastminiatures.com

The locos lights have now been installed at one end. As the loco will be used mainly with a push pull set I will leave the lights at the other end for the time being. I did have an issue with the headlights flashing whilst the loco was traveling in reverse but this has been vertualy elimanated when I discovered that there were an extra set of pickups on the trailing bogie. Anyway heres some pics.. Some of you will be fimilar with my APT and its flashing pantograph. I have wanted for a while to fit this to the rest of the AC's and with the new build I have taken this one step further. The APT uses a battery pack for the pan light but the 89 uses the power from the track. This is done by modifying the trailing bogie like this.. Its not a very good pic but you can just make out a reed switch mounted between the wheels. One end of the reed is soldered to the internal pick ups the other end sticks out of the top of the bogie ( black wire) ... When reassembled the reed sits neatly between the axels... When the loco passes over a fixed magnet the reed switch flashes a led. For testing the 89 has a white one sticking out of the rear cab windscreen and can be seen flashing here... The plan is to fit a small blue led to the pantograph head to simulate arching. I will be adding a bridge rectifier to the circuit so that the led will work in each direction. This should also operate the effect if I change the layout to DCC.

New loco makes an apearence at Potters Lane.... Still a long way to go with this build but for my first scratchbuilt loco im well pleased with it! B)

Cheers Sean. A bit more progress on Avocet. This afternoon I have built up the roof vents and bodyside grills. I have also done a bit more work on the number 1 cab end and fitted the distintive bodyside ribbing at cant rail level. I have also fitted the backs to the handrail openings. Realy there is just the buffer beam and lower cab front on the no 1 end to do before I can get the loco in primer. Aparently the trailing bogie has been posted so this may arrive tomorrow providing that it fits through the letter box ! A few piccys...

Further progress on the 89. First some detailing using mirrored vinyl starting with the battery box covers.. And the roof hatches.. A bit of paint.. The A side.. The B side.. Number 1 end taking shape.. Number 2 end marked out for the holes for the led lights.. Bodyside cut out for the foot steps and handrail receses... The finished livery for the 89 will be IC swallow as it was at its naming. After looking through some pics on the net at the time of its naming 89001 still had yellow springs and axel box covers from when it was 'bulled up' for the mallard special in 88.

Second trailing bogie aquired for the loco. So far the loco build has cost just under a £10 !!

Avocet now has one bogie well half a bogie ! Heres the bogie with the basic detail added.... And with a bit of paint... Just hope I manage to get the trailing bogie for the other end !!

A bit more progress on my class 89 project as this morning I picked up the power bogie from the sorting office. Here it is after being trial fitted to the 89.. The plan that it sits on shows the modifications needed. To be 100% correct the wheel base should be slightly bigger at the rear but for ease of construction I can live with this especialy as with a few modifications the power bogie is a direct swap for the class 47 one ! Apart from some filling of the mounting lugs the main job to do is to reduce the height of the molded side supports the underframe rests on as the ones on the 47 are shorter. Once done and everyting is sitting properly modding the bogies can start. When I first thought about this build I was going to use class 58 bogies as these were built roughly the same time as the 89 and look similar but closer inspection reviled that the axel box supports looked wrong. The ones on the class 60 looked much nearer so this was the deciding factor in the choice. On the class 60 the dampers are fitted between the axel box and the bogie frame so these were carfully removed with a knife and put in a safe place as they will be reused when building the distintive damper arrangement later. The other thing to do with the knife is remove the sand boxes and also trim away some of the bogie frame between the wheels. Then comes the modification to the top of the bogie frame using some milliput as seen here.. Once set the rest of the bogies details can be built up from evergreen strip. My long term plan for the 89 is a ' what if things had worked out differently ' train like this.. The DVT needs rebuilding as im not happy with the overall shape but the rake will be DVT + FO + Buffet + TSO + TSOE + 89. Livery will be IC swallow and one of the mk3's will be modified by removing the end gangway to form a TSOE similar the the mk4 version that was later built for the ECML trains.

Just a quick update on the class 89 project. Tonight I have managed to aquire a lima class 60 power bogie for the loco. The bogie is very similar to the 89s and will be a direct replacement for the class 47 ones that she currently sits on. The bogie will require removal of the sand boxes,etc and some additional parts added but should look fairly convincing when done. Just hope im sucessfull in getting the matching trailing bogie for the other end !!

For many years I have always fancied a model of 89 001 Avocet. Lack of funds has always prevented me from buying a kit so the only other option was to scratch build. A few months back I was given a pair of Hornby hst cabs so a couple of weeks ago I made a start on the project. The power of the ac electrics book provided me with a plan to work from. When I worked out the mesurements in 00 I relised that the plan was actualy to scale so basicly I photo copied it and then cut out paper templates for the body sides. The sides were then cut from 1mm stryine sheet. The Hornby cabs were then glued on The ends were then modified and internal cross bracing added Then the roof was built up My 89 uses a modified lima 47 chassis So far only one cab end has been built up the other end still needs modding. For the bogies I have two options both a compromise. Option is to use a set of lima class 60 bogies. These are a direct replacement for the 47 ones and can then be modded to resemble the 89 bogies. The other is to scratch build some bogie sides then cast them in resin. I could then add them to my westcoast website. For now though I will concentrate on finishing the body. B)

Website updated again. New section added for kids toys and control panel page redone. www.westcoastminiatures.com I would like to wish everyone a merry christmas and a happy new year.

Thanks guys. Ok a few pics of the panel being installed in its new home...

Over the past year I have been working on my first comissioned layout build. The layout is 00 gauge and is based on Manchester Piccadilly. Tonight I have finished the control panel so that I can start wiring it in tomorrow afternoon. With 21 point motors to fit its going to be fun wiring it up !

The Westcoast website has just been updated again with a few pics of my latest building Portishead. With this update I have put all the text into text boxes so hopfully that should cure all the problems with the pages. The other update is that my exhibition layout Potters lane is to be rebuilt before its next show in March. Potters will form part of a bigger layout that will be known as AC Lines. AC lines will be a series of modules that will feature different scenes of the 25kv network. The first new scene will be a 6' section of line with a relay room. This will be built as part of an artical I will be writing for a mag. Other scenes planned will be Hest bank crossing and Tebay viaduct. A fellow modeller is planning a section of the LTS that will also link up with the AC lines project. Going to need a big hall though !!

Potters lane will be at this weekends show at Gateshead stadium. Currently I have the layout set up in the living room whilst I carry out some last minute repairs to the damage that happened on the way home from the last show. Whilst the layout is out I took a few more pics of the semi completed 312 coaches as Adam at Electra has requested a couple of pics of the unit for the website.

Ok I have managed to fit the glazing to the cab windows and finish a driving trailer. I still have things like handrails, wipers, etc to fit but at least I have somthing to take to Gateshead with me at the weekend. Must say though im quite pleased with the way the resin cabs have turned out. Yes I know the interior is wrong but it looks better than an empty shell !!

These vinyls were worth every penny as all the windows were pre cut so all I had to do was peal off and stick down! I still have a lot to do to the power car but as its the first to have the clear glazing fitted I decided to use it for the first vinyl fitting. It might have been a pain in the rear to cut away the bodysides of the coach to fit the clear glazing but seeing how the thin glazing bars look on the windows makes it all worth while. Now I just have the other three coaches to do.

Vinyls have arrived for the 312 EMU and look stunning.... Looks like that takes care of my afternoon then !