dasatcopthorne

Nice little layout. Looks a bit like the earlier one you had that is was going to buy from you but then you blanked my messages. What ever happened to it?

My sentiments entirely. Dave

Well done mate. Dave

What more can I say. Ah. Just noticed. Dekota Dibben has a Trade Stand at your show! Dave

There is currently a show on UK Model Shops for Sunday 3rd July. It has the usual mobile number used by Dekota and the show is advertised as being organised by the Mid Kent Model Railway Group. If that is not an attempt to mislead, I don't know what is. The event by the English Reviera Model Railway Club can still be found on Google. I just think that this organiser should come clean and not try to pass themselves off as Groups or Club's. I personally will not support shows that pass themselves off as such and contribute nothing to the model railway hobby. It's hard enough for Club's to make ends meet. Dave

You need to track down the source of the traction current. Not wishing to teach you to suck eggs, but you need to start at the mains plug and work up the wiring and supply equipment until you reach the track. Somewhere in there will be a piece of equipment that is supplying the power. Good luck mate. Dave.

A bit more investigation show these to be run by Gellert Dibben. All the shows use the same mobile number and many give the name as Dekota Dibben. Mystery solved. Let's hope they have all the necessary things in place, such as Insurance and are VAT registered etc. We've been here before, haven't we. Dave

Just a quick comment from me. Are we seeing the start of lots of little one day shows? Probably taking customers away from Club events and returning nothing to the hobby. I noticed that there is a one day show today in Oxted Surrey called 'Oxted Presents' I've been unable to discover who is running this. The title has the 'sound' of being the local authority. However, looking further on, there is a Wallingford Presents. Again, no info on who is running this, only a mobile phone number. In my opinion, the entry fee is high for the low number of layouts on show and the very low number of traders. I wonder who is running these. Dave

The only thing left to do is disconnect the Track Cleaner. Dave

Changed one one a throttle at our Club. Easy peaty. Dave

NCE Power Pro . Brilliant.

Once asked Ratio about spares for their footbridge and seemed to get the answer that they were prepared to sell additional bits to make longer bridges. Dave

Hi Ceptic. From your sketch, I see what you mean but I'm afraid I don't agree wholely. I think your sketch misses the nuances of the curve and the light and dark shading. Take the overhead shot and explode the area of concern and a very different picture emerges. Anyway. Roll on more shots when available. Dave

I'm confused. As you can see both ends, what corner is OK and what corners have remained the same? Dave.

Thanks a lot. Class 66. Dave

Hello Guys. We've been making some more minor adjustments to the layout recently. Well, more like small additions to aid operation. You'll probably know, after operating a layout for a while, things come to light that could be a little bit better. Following the weekend at Doncaster, operators pointed out a couple of blind spots on the two signals encountered after leaving the Loco Depot or the Fiddle Yard. Often a loco or train will be held at one of these two signals whilst the freight yard operator prepares for their arrival (making space in other words). This is fair enough and gives punters a chance to peruse the loco/rollingstock involved as well as catching the subtle tickover of differing Classes. However. Once standing at either of these signals the operator sending whatever it might be is unable to see the signal aspects. They are completely hidden from the Loco Depot operator because the signals are on the other side of the train (we operate from the front of the layout in the main.) and the Fiddle Yard operator (at the rear) can only see them if he leans forward over the backscene. Not very professional. So the answer was to fit a couple of 'repeaters' to the rear of the backscene (for the Fiddle Yard man) as well as something out on the front of the layout so the Loco Depot man could get an indication that either signal had been pulled off. The rear of the backscene was easy. A couple of LEDs on a piece or Veroboard wired in as straight repeaters. The ones at the front presented a different problem. How to disguise them as something else. The first thoughts were to have lights on buildings that only lit when the signal was off and not when it was on. Indications on the control panels would have involved a bit more work, needing to cross a baseboard joint. The connections already present being fully occupied. In the end I settled for complete disguise. Luckily, along this section, there are workers installing some new drainage pipes, so two repeater LEDs were hidden in these at an angle that generally only the Loco operator can see when alight. Another problem was operators not returning signals to off after a train passes. So, an LED has been fitted next each signal switch. It flashes whilst its accompanying signal is pulled off. The repeater just visible inside the pipe next to the nearest sack. Signal not currently in place in case of damage. Dave

Just had a great weekend at the Doncaster Show with the layout. On returning and before storing the layout away, we decided to have a quick photo session. It's funny but I never realised that all the shots taken so far, have been from the 'front'. so we took a few from the rear after removing the backscene. Here are some of them.

Hello Colin. Really good to see you back and so pleased to hear you are on the mend. All the best. Dave Smith

All packed up now and ready to take it to the Doncaster show this coming weekend. Dave.

James. It looks like you've fitted new brake leavers on the HAAs. If so. Who's did you use, please? Great work as usual. Dave

Hi Guys. Thought you might be interested in a little '00' kit I recently purchased from the KS Laser Design stand at the Erith show. Glued it up yesterday and I think it makes a very useful addition for £5.00 (for 2 or 1 long one) See their website www.kslaserdesigns.com The parts are laser cut from two differing thicknesses of MDF. Once all the parts were removed from the holding sections the legs needed their tops filed to give a level finish. This is because the laser cutting action leaves a slight 'V' shape in a grove or on one side of a cut. I started using PVA glue but soon moved on to Superglue as this was more instant. I then backed up each joint with a fillet of PVA to strengthen them. Where the legs are cut away from their holding piece, there is the option to leave a 'peg' protruding from the base of the legs. I did this on three legs for each platform. These will be set in holes drilled in the baseboard. Once all the PVA was dry I sprayed with Halfords Grey Plastic Primer (because that's what I had) masking off the top and then painted the steps and top with 'weathered concrete'. Further weathering was carried out with various powders. Some of the paint I applied to the top went into the lasered grooves. I removed this by running a scalpel blade backwards along the groove where necessary. £5.00. Well worth it! No connection just satisfied. Dave.

Wow! Well done, Jon. Dave

Very nice. But. I have 2 x 00 Class 20s fitted with Biffo's sounds. Each starts/stops very slightly before/after the other and sounds absolutely fantastic. Dave

Bumping this subject in case any original readers that asked about the availability of Networker bodies, are still interested. There are currently some on ebay. Dave

Hi All. Someone recently asked me about a building that makes it's debut in post #86. The one covered in corrugated iron. This was built to fill a gap where there were a couple of oil tanks and a few pipes. The area just didn't look right for some reason. I tried to get some co-ordination with the long shed structure next door. Anyway, rather than just send this guy some shots, I thought I would post a few I took during the build process. I hope the process is fairly self explanatory. Cheers Dave.