john dew

I have two split chassis Ivatts running regularly on Granby. They both have pony pick ups from new.

Some more progress on the Scalescene Hotel. Regular readers will recall that the plan is to convert the low relief kit and build a full three dimensional model. When complete, this will form the centre-piece of the square outside Granby Junction Here is the first module on site in February As you can see this is one of the more complex and intricate of John Wiffen's designs. It is certainly quite time consuming. Despite my best intentions I never quite managed to cut card in the morning and run trains in the afternoon. With the layout neglected, once this module was done I took a wee break. Assorted electrical problems delayed my return to the project but eventually, in August, I completed a second module Card modelling with a glass of something cooling can be quite therapeutic in the summer. You will have noticed that both units are without a roof. The low relief kit is finished off with a neat row of dormer gables.........I delayed installing them because I couldnt quite work out how to seamlessly incorporate them into a three dimensional model. So I took another little break and focussed on getting my new prairies running properly. With some help from John Wiffen I think I may have solved the roof problem so last week I started on the third and final unit. I had intended to post when the unit was finished but the weather here has been quite wonderful so I couldnt resist taking the units outside for a photo shoot Here we are in November with unit 3 basking in the fall sunshine. The three units as they will eventually appear in shape of a hollow square The building will be viewed from both front and back The rear view will probably be seen the most as it backs on to the main line and directly faces the entrance to the Railway Room. It will be quite challenging creating a credible industrial look that will blend with John Wiffen's sophisticated design I now have the semblance of a cunning plan which I hope to be able to reveal to you over the next few weeks months. Still need to run trains and there is a Mogul about to arrive. I doubt if it will all be done before March. Hmm February August November ........and finally March Doreen suggests I rename the hotel "The Four Seasons" Regards from Vancouver where the weather seen above has changed somewhat A "Pineapple express" has arrived from Hawaii bringing 80mm of rain for today. Keep well

Not much!

Hi Phil Excellent , as always. Have you changed the lighting? It looks as though the Rain has stopped Autumn sun has finally emerged at Pen y Brin. I hope you pop over to YMR later ....you may find something of interest Best wishes John

Hopefully I have fixed the troublesome electrics on the Down Storage entry/exit road using. It may be of interest to those wishing to switch polarity on surface mounted points or replace failed switches in inaccessible locations. I am fortunate in having a number of followers with layouts where the wiring is perfect in every respect. I will quite understand if they choose to ignore this post. The exit road consists of a five turnout ladder The storage yard and branch line were the first boards I wired up back in 2008. Electro-frog points powered by Peco twin solenoid motors with frog polarity switched by Peco switches! A veritable museum piece for such a high traffic area which has caused me more grief over the years than any other part of the layout. The contrast with the the rest of the layout (Tortoises) could not be more marked. Over time I found the Peco switches unreliable and some actually failed. To solve the problem I bought some of the then newly introduced DCC Concepts ADFSX units which acted as both decoders and polarity switches. In many ways these units solved the problem. The downside for the intial releases, like mine, was that when the power was disconnected,short or switch reason, the device reverted to the default polarity regardless of the actual turnout position! There were work arounds but it was clearly less than ideal! Earlier this year I needed switches for two newly installed surface mounted motors. DCC Concepts were out of stock of their devices and I stumbled across this self latching relay : Its a very simple and inexpensive relay switch.......no decoder or CDU like the DCC Concepts unit but a fraction of the price I suspect someone with a knowledge of electronics could knock these up for cents. But I know my limitations! Here it is wired up: Bottom right clock wise: Red DCC Bus +ve Black DCC Bus Common Brown Frog Feed............this is the only wire that has to be connected directly to the turnout Green/Red Point Motor Red/Green " Orange Point Motor Common The three unused solder pads are for accessories....signals or switch board LEDS Here are two in place on the edge of the baseboard Here is a shot of the sub-assembly that controls the storage turntable and associated sidings Apart from demonstrating its an urban myth that you only need two wires for DCC, it hopefully shows how easy the relays are to install Turnouts 85 and 86 are 6' away at the very back of the baseboard. The only wire that had to be fed directly to the turnout was the brown frog feed. The DCC contacts and Point Common were fed to the chocblock for the sub assembly about 2' feet away (just in the picture extreme right) The point motor wires from the relay joined the matching wires from the motor already in place in the point decoder (seen at the right.....#2 Storage 85-91) If I used switch panels rather than decoders they would have been fed to the switch. For anyone interested, the 5 units between the two Relays and the LS150 Point Decoder are occupancy detectors for 8 blocks in the turntable area......not part of this tale Testing the relays was super easy......rather than leaning across the baseboard, displacing more chimneys,lamp posts etc, and trying to connect and read a multimeter while switching the turnout ..........I connected everything up except the frog feed. From the comfort of an armchair I was able to connect the multimeter to the frog dropper (brown wire from the the relay) and the Red DCC Bus.......throw the point......if I get a reading and the frog in the resultant position should be Black...GOOD NEWS......connect the meter to the Black bus, throw the point and check again. If the polarity is being switched incorrectly eg Black when it should be Red simply change over the point wires from the relay. I guess you could re solder them....I just changed them over in the decoder.......Job done I am not suggesting that these relays should be used when starting a layout but they are a very effective band aid for effecting repairs or add ons.........particularly for elderly modellers with bad backs and poor eye sight Here are six more units......three of which have solved my ladder problem. Note........there are similar relays designed for DC units.......... GM 500 For DCC layouts you must use GM500D relays. GM500 without the D do not work. How do I know this? I have six such relays looking for a good home! Regards from Vancouver

Hi John I wondered about that and, of course, you are right.....a loco would never need to carry more than two lamps. The only time it would carry a rear light would be with a single head lamp: Light Engine. Easily sorted! In GWR days this would also apply to shunters and pilots.....they carried a single red light centre of buffer beam front and back. I think you will find that red and white front and back was LMS practice which the Western Region adopted after nationalisation. Best Wishes John

Finally the prairies are both weathered. They are by no means perfect. Some of the close ups expose the imperfections rather cruelly. However, once the 3' rule is invoked I think they will pass as reasonable facsimiles of hard working locomotives in1947 Modelu lamps are great......with the slot already in the base, fitting them to the lamp irons is a breeze. The crew are now in place.....not without incident......as the the bent reversing screw handle demonstrates. The camera is very useful in highlighting other previously undetected errors........like the sand pipe for example (since corrected and now pointing the correct way!) The pipes are quite delicate....two snapped off and had to be replace with brass wire bent to shape. The usual dilemma with head lamps..... front and back on at the same time! These locos will be running an intensive commutor service with rapid turnarounds. On balance, I prefer to always run with the correct head code and blame the fireman for not removing the one at the rear. Time for them to start earning some revenue: Here we see 4124 and a 4 car D Set with a suburban passenger service from Birkenhead Woodside 4121 is already simmering in the relief road in readiness for the return to Birkenhead. I must confess this is a a somewhat posed shot.....Locos normally enter Granby chimney leading.....its a decade old convention....but I wanted a front and back shot. Routines like this, involving a loco exchange at both ends, need 3 locos. Right now I am using a 56xx 0-6-2T to make up the numbers............hopefully the Dapol Mogul, due next month, will give some indication of what we can expect from their Prairie.......but how long do I wait? Here is a black and white shot to finish which I think captures, quite nicely, the look I was aiming for. Best Wishes from Vancouver John

Hi Neal Once again I enjoyed your progress with the timetable. In fact inspired by you I have started a spread sheet to supplement the RR&Co timetable which is a bit rigid ....no space for notes or comments...... you just enter the schedule and the time it will start.......and no space for all the supporting schedules involved in loco exchanges etc which follow automatically. A few questions How does your WTT handle subsidiary movements? A train enters Henley from Paddington...no problem.... but what about the movement of carriages and loco(s) prior to the return or next journey? Is everything based on arrival and departure times from Henley? Obviously the computor timetable has to be based on departure time which is fine for departures from Granby but not so good when the 8.10 am from Paddingtom arrives at Granby 2 minutes having traveled 20' max from the storage. I am beginning to think I will have to use the RR&Co timetable just as a starting tool and then run in parallell a spreadsheet with fictional but realistic times of departure from the storage yards. That sounds like a daunting task re liverying your post 1934 locos. I have found the brief and careful application of brake fluid the most effective way of removing the old decals Good luck with the DIY John

Hi Neal I am following the introduction of your timetable with great interest. I have been threatening to do the same on Granby for ages. With RR&Co I have the advantage (?) of a fast clock and automated timetable.......its a questionable advantage because at times I feel like the little dog on a treadmill being pursued by a hot cinder. Once started the RR&Co timetable waits for no man........fortunately I have a freeze button close at hand. I get the impression that you are not using a fast clock but run the various scheduled trains in the sequence set out in your WTT. Is this correct? I can see the advantages, particularly in the early stages when you are proving the reliability of locos and testing the route setting. I think I should start with something like that. Hope you got your faulty decoders sorted......where you able to identify the issue? Best wishes John

I had some success this evening......I used blu-tac , cant find black tac here, and was able to fit one of Modelu’s more obese drivers.....feet first through the the drivers side doorway.....the cab roof hatch is to small Photos to follow John

Like St Enodoc I wouldnt wish to make you blush but I do find your site absolutely invaluable.......which makes it all the more mortifying that I hadnt checked there before posting my query. Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction Best wishes John

Its Mea Culpa time.......I have just discovered that Hornby have actually modelled two spare Lamp Irons exactly where they should be. Mind you I did have laser eye surgery last week.... Best wishes John

Thank you so much for your quick and helpful. I cant believe I didnt check that site.....its my go to reference, permanently book marked. Miss Prism has confirmed your belief that the pipe is in fact a breather pipe. Fire Iron storage seems to be optional. The photos were brilliant .....lots of interesting weathering detail and as John (St Enodoc) observed they also showed where the the spare lamps were stored. Thank you again John

Hi Robin Hoping might be better description! I have done some experiments with the crew being gripped by the neck with tweezers and inserted feet first........the worry is securing them without daubing superglue over the sides. Fingers crossed I will let you know how I get on! Cheers John

This is an extract from my latest Granby post where I have started to weather the new prairies. I thought it might be worthwhile reaching out to a wider audience with a couple of questions. Here are three rather crude closeups of the bunker with plastic coal load removed Ignore the air gun slugs which add a little more weight.....to be painted black and covered with real coal A couple of questions for the experts (1) In the three shots of the bunker you can see a pipe on the right hand side. It starts at the bottom, rises vertically and then turns 90o to run horizontally near the top of the bunker and turns thru 90o again and rises vertically to terminate in a loop on the edge of the right hand grille. Not seen this detail before and have no idea of its function......any suggestions? (2) Can I assume that Fire Irons and Spare Lamps were stored inside the cab? There are no retaining devices for fire irons and no side lamp irons. I dont recall seeing any on photos although perhaps I should do a more detailed search. Any help will be much appreciated NB Since writing this I checked a load more photos and did, eventuallly find one prairie with fire irons stowed on the tank top......but it was on a a preserved line. Regards from Vancouver where we are enjoying the last day of sunshine before the monsoon season John

Finally started to weather the two prairies. It took a few years for me to summon enough courage to start washing dirt over a brand new locomotive. Eventually I recognised that it was somewhat unrealistic to have an industrial layout like Granby populated with pristine locomotives. The methods and materials I use have developed over time. The end result is rarely if ever perfect, and certainly hasnt enhanced the re-sale value, but to my mind passes the three foot rule and complements the overall look and feel of Granby. In an attempt to avoid a "sprayed on" appearance I apply a series of different layers over a number of days First job a few coats of matt black paint over black plastic surfaces......Bunker interior, Tank tops and Cab roof: I add steel to the black (50:50) and paint the smoke box and cylinders to replicate the sheed created by intense heat Top and sides receive multiple washes of diluted black and brown. I use cotton buds to wipe up any excess and to push it into the cracks and crevices where dirt and ash would naturally accumulate. I try and relate the degree of weathering to the age and type of loco. These locos were ten years old in 1948. I am guessing they had their last repaint along with GWR livery in 1944/45. Even with the constraints of the immediate post war world I believe passenger locos were generally kept cleaner than freight locos. These locos were used for intensive suburban passenger service..........so cleaner than a Dean Goods but dirtier than a Castle! Mixed washes of Mud and Rust on the chassis and brake gear Normally I have to spend a lot of time painting greasy steel on to the connecting rods etc ......but Hornby have already done that for me With the exception of the bunker I have applied very little rust to the upper body......just a suggestion to the smokebox door, a few areas of very high usage such as steps and lamp irons and undercoat on the buffers. The bunker however had to withstand a daily battering from hard welsh coal. Not great close ups I am afraid but hopefully you get the idea. Ignore the air gun slugs which add a little more weight.....to be painted black and covered with real coal A couple of questions for the experts (1) In the three shots of the bunker you can see a pipe on the right hand side. It starts at the bottom, rises vertically and then turns 90o to run horizontally near the top of the bunker and turns thru 90o again and rises vertically to terminate in a loop on the edge of the right hand grille. Not seen this detail before and have no idea of its function......any suggestions? (2) Can I assume that Fire Irons and Spare Lamps were stored inside the cab? There are no retaining devices for fire irons and no side lamp irons. I dont recall seeing any on photos although perhaps I should do a more detailed search. Any help will be much appreciated Hopefully I can finish both prairies this week......the main job is a very light dusting of grey/black weathering powder plus some mud powder to finish the underside. Then coal, lamps and crew.....the , I fear, will be an interesting challenge Regards from Vancouver where we are enjoying the last day of sunshine before the monsoon season John

Hi Neal My apologies,my reply must languished in never never land. The Collets (ROD version) and Dean both need a lot of lead before they will pull anything. Tender pick ups and Stay Alive make a big difference. You are very kind about my work bench. I cannot tell a lie.......any perception of tidiness owes everything to the Affinity cropping tool! Best wishes John

Two weeks without posting...... largely because I have been pottering with assorted not very photogenic projects. Rather than finish any of them I decided to spend some time tinkering with the Branch automated pick up goods routine which gave me an excuse to photograph (again) two iconic GWR locos. First the Dean Goods ......having uncoupled the Brake Van, it reverses its train through the goods yard so the three rearmost wagons are just inside the goods shed. This is a classic "prodigal" loco.......slated with a degree of justifcation by the experts it also turned out to be very very poor performer. Now with a Zimo decoder + SA and a substantial quantity of lead it runs like a dream. One of my favourite locos As the Dean uncouples its delivery in the yard, a through train for the ICI works at Runcorn crawls over the Branch junction Collett Goods.......designed to replace the ageing Dean........an interesting contrast in style: This also now has a Zimo + SA, tender pick ups added plus a much needed load of lead. Up an incline, on a curve and badly laid track with 18 up........childs play in real life but previously too much of a struggle for this loco As the Collett rolls by, the Dean continues shunting. It has to go to the Pick up siding and collect 3 wagons for Mold... top left above. Once completed it has to reverse back to the Cattle siding to pick up the parked Brake Van...by the Dairy Sorry about the uncropped industrial look but the branch is so narrow it was the only way I could capture most of the scene. Meantime the coal train passes through the station clearing the line for Branch B Set 's eventual departure to Granby: The pick up goods notionally runs every week daily at mid afternoon. The wagons left in the shed will be "unloaded/loaded" . (In theory I can do this in RR&Co thus changing the weight of the train) Tomorrow morning, after the rush hour, when the branch BSet arrives the loco (14xx), instead of just running around will park the carriages in the bay. The light engine then goes to the yard and moves the wagons from the shed to the pick up siding.......ready for the cycle to start again On the should do list .....change the head code on the coal train and develop a routine to change the empties in the coal yard........but long before that I have to move up to the main line.....weather the prairies and have them running regularly Best wishes from Vancouver

Hi Neal I think you may well be right . That Greenwood model certainly looks more realistic I am afraid that I had to sacrifice authenticity for RR&Co compatability! Cheers john

Hi Neal As you know I have used the Heljan for a few years and switched to Fleischmann I cant really account for the difference in price........its actually greater than you may think. Heljan has a DCC control unit included in the price.....Fleischmann has a basic on/off/reverse switch, you have to pay another 150 GBP for a DCC control unit. Having said that the basic unit will be sufficient for turntables with only a few exit tracks. Fleischmann is more robust and less sophisticated than Heljan. For me both are advantages. The Heljan exit tracks have to be laid directly to the table using conventional track which has to be filed down to smooth the transition to the bridge. The gap has to be very precise and the alignment with the bridge tracks perfect. The Fleischmann transition tracks are an integral part of the turntable and extend 3" beyond the surround before connecting with conventional track. More allowance for marginal alignment error Using the basic switch unit, indexing is immediate and automatic from the moment you switch on/off. Ultra accurate and reliable With Heljan you have to initially programme the control unit by lining up each exit track by eye for each end of the bridge. To be accurate ists quite time consuming. Once done you just punch in the allocated track number and the bridge automatically moves to it. In operation it is very smooth and much quieter than the Fleischmann. Unfortunately the Heljan sporadically loses its indexing memory. Very frustrating when operating and involves repeating the entire programming process. Making the change was a big outlay for me (no new locos for almost a year!) but with a largish automated layout well worthwhile They are admittedly a bit noisy and not very prototypical for the GWR but they can be disguised a bit: I have thought of modifying the bridge with girders...it has been done.....but I took fright and added more grime instead Best wishes John

I am not familiar with sound chips ....Can you/.have you done a factory re-set? If its not hard wired you could plug in a spare chip (non sound would do) to test direction running HTH Best wishes John

I am a big fan of turntables they add a huge amount of operating interest but accurate automatic indexing is very desirable The Fleischmann is more expensive than the Heljan but you should be able to get one for less than £435 from one of the German box shifters. I found one by google search in Hong Kond for a lot less but that was 4 years ago. i bought it to replace a Heljan! When the Heljan worked it was brilliant.....much quieter and smoother than the Fleischmann with a rather nice slow down before matching the exit track....accurate indexing When it was bad it was horrid.......from time to time it would lose its memory (this has been reported elsewhere). This may be less of a problem for you because I had 10 exit tracks. My principal problem was that it wasnt fully supported by RR &Co.....I had some pretty spectaculars screwups before I gave up and got the Fleischmann ......Not an issue for you though Ending on a positive note it is DCC ready so you can control It from either your throttle or the supplied control box. Later models have what appears to be a better designed control box....something to watch out for if you start looking I can send links to Youtube to videos I made of both Turntables if you wish Best wishes

Our posts crossed The TT is a bit jerky but the sound is brilliant it made the entire operation come to life Cheers John

If you want a totally reliable self indexing TT then you could splurge lots of euros and buy a Fleischmann.......they are expensive but I certainly got my moneys worth ....they are a joy to operate. Meant to write earlier.....thought your videos were brilliant, thoroughly enjoyed them. Glad you got the prairies sorted....once the kinks are ironed out they are very impressive models. You have almost converted me to sound! Best wishes John

Morning Robin Thats a lovely shot......one of my favourites Cheers