67A

Hi all, Just a quick update to let you all know that the control panel is now all but dismantled the only section remaining is the scenic section which I hope to remove intact and incorporate into a much smaller unit which will simply be attached to the main layout frontage. I have managed to complete the wiring at the 'Garsdale' end fiddleyard albeit in a temporary panel which will be replaced when I make the three new separate panels but at least it all works and is some progress. Next week I shall tackle the 'Dent Head' end fiddleyard hopefully. This is the current state of the old panel A pile of redundant wiring and switches begs for recycling! This is the new temporary panel for the Garsdale end. Switches on the left control the 10 fiddleyard roads, the two above the horizontal bank control the approach points power supply as an overall 'fan' of lines and the horizontal switches control the points. The controller is my test unit. That's it for now guys.

Hi Ade, The lift out is a lift out, there is a height restriction preventing a hinged system, as for power this end has not yet been wired so watch this space!

Hi all, Finally an update with some substance. As mentioned previously the new fiddleyard has been repositioned and the track laid, this weekend I have spent wiring up the 'north' end of the fiddleyard and with a change to the norm I have decided not to incorporate the switching within the main control panel and build two new separate panels for 'north' and 'south' (probably to be called Garsdale and Dent Head respectively. Also with the new fiddleyard taking up more space in the den I am considering a small panel for the scenic section in order to remove the quite large existing control panel. Anyway to see the changes here are some pics! Entrance/exit from Garsdale 'north' Tracks 1-5 from the left are the 'Up' lines, 6-10 are the 'Down' lines with a scissors crossover between 5+6 for stock changeovers. The wall in the distance is the old external garage wall so could not completely fit all ten tracks through so have reduced to six. Overall view 1 Overall view 2 Original exit to the south with the hidden loops coming in on the right side with the Class 25. Revised section with 'Up' and 'Down' main lines split into 4 to cross over the new lift out section. From the new lift out section the tracks increase to six in order to pass through the brick wall Bit bright through the wall to get a real view of the overall fiddleyard Just had this train set-up so thought I would post it, Jubilee 45600 'Bermuda' has charge of a mixed parcels rake This lot belongs to my mate and had to be put somewhere safe whilst all the mayhem was taking place, nowhere safer than the scenic section me thinks! That's it for now guys, next week I'll be continuing with the south end wiring.

Hi all, Apologies for lengthy absence, I've simply had a very busy few weeks with all manner of changes taking place seemingly everywhere I turn. Outside the garage I have built a timber and polycarbonate roof structure to provide enough cover to set-up my Bermuda Road MPD layout for testing prior to attending the Poynton exhibition in September. The garage has now been reorganised to locate the new laser cutter machine and I'm currently attempting to master all of the new skills required in order to work the machine, the software being the biggest hurdle I must admit. The MPD building has had to take a back seat with all the work going on above and the repositioning of the fiddleyard my Dent layout due to the arrival of the laser cutter but it's almost finished so will post photos when it is.

Hi all, Apologies for lengthy absence, I've simply had a very busy few weeks with all manner of changes taking place seemingly everywhere I turn. Dent's end-to-end fiddleyard arrangement is now no more, the 'south' fiddleyard has been dismantled from the garage and the 'north' fiddleyard dismantled in the den and the whole thing completely revised and is now rebuilt as a roundy-roundy located in the railway den almost entirely and the track has been re-laid, I still have the rewiring to tackle including replacement of the control panel sections. Outside the garage I have built a timber and polycarbonate roof structure to provide enough cover to set-up my Bermuda Road MPD layout for testing prior to attending the Poynton exhibition in September. The garage has now been reorganised to locate the new laser cutter machine and I'm currently attempting to master all of the new skills required in order to work the machine, the software being the biggest hurdle I must admit. Once I have tidied up the railway den I'll post a few photos.

Hi Jeff, Really nice to hear from you, its been ages due to your situation with moving (twice) etc. I really enjoyed getting to grips with KL and then KL2 so please do let me know when KL3 is on the cards as it will be a must for me. I was passing through Kirkby Stephen last Sunday and called at both the Network Rail station and the preserved KS East station where I received a very nice welcome and was invited into the mess room for a brew, the conversation turned to modelling and they host an exhibition on this weekend each year and have booked Bermuda Road for next year. There is not much of an ex:BR presence at the site as apparently all ex: BR loco's have move to the Wensleydale Railway. Hope everything is going well for you Jeff.

Hi all, Today has been a day of 'all change'. I needed to make some working space in the garage so decided last night that the fiddleyard which I only moved into there about a year ago had to go. By lunchtime today the deed was done, the fiddleyard will now be completely reconfigured and return the layout back to a roundy-roundy utilising the existing 'north' end fiddleyard and bringing the southbound tracks through the wall to meet them. I have to admit since the demise of the spirals the layout has not seen much action as the play value as my mates put it last night had been lost somewhat. This alteration will not be a quick fix as I have too many other projects on the boil but given time Dent will re-emerge re-energised! I had to move all the stock off the fiddleyards and have taken some photos and will upload these over the next few weeks to keep some interest going. Meanwhile the Bermuda Road MPD building is on its way to completion and this can be seen over there.

Hi Tony, Thanks for the feedback. I found the Metcalf sheets to be too shiny and obviously they had no 3D effect with them being just flat card, they were of course much quicker as it was simply cut and paste. I have had an extremely busy weekend and done no modelling so have not got round to posting the finished roadway as yet but I will do so next week sometime. I have been working over the week on the roof and that will also be coming together next week.

Hi all, If you look back at the last post I mentioned I had an upcoming masterplan, well I attended a Laser Cutting and Etching course on Thursday and Friday and produced a couple of test pieces on the Thursday one just a general window to get to grips with the software then I created a template for the engine shed roof windows I am currently refurbishing. This was my first effort which I done in paper simply to avoid wasting materials. I took it home on Thursday night then refined a few points on Friday and produced these The old shed building had seen better days and I was surprised the window sections lasted this long giving the thin Plasticard strip used for the glazing bars, so today I began the roof rebuild in earnest... Firstly I removed all the glazed and boarded areas Followed by the slated roof sections This was the scrap pile! A thorough cleaning of the roof bars and walls which have certainly stood the test of time with no failures anywhere. Next my favourite medium for building and carcase - Perspex was used for both faces to maintain strength and rigidity The new window sections being prepared but not yet fitted This shows the new frames placed in position to give an idea of improvement, the writing is just the protective laser cutting film. The roadway which I have also been working on is now almost complete but I forgot to photograph it - next week eh! The laser cutting and etching course I attended was at Shore Cottage Studios and was a fabulous two days and the best money I have ever spent on education! I do intend to start a niche modelling service once everything is in place so keep an eye out guys. Do look in on my Dent Station thread for updates there e.g. new loco's added to the fleet courtesy of birthday presents!!!!

Hi all, I've had a very busy week comprising of my birthday on Thursday on which I attended a course to learn the basics of laser cutting and etching, it was a two day course at Shore Cottage Studios only around 5 miles from my home - how lucky was that. It was a fabulous experience and the best money I have ever spent on further education! I do intend to start a niche modelmaking service once everything is in place. On Saturday I went to the Liverpool show with my mates and met loads of old friends especially Alistair MacDonald who was exhibiting his layout "Whitmore" another fabulous exhibition layout on the circuit. Today I have opened my birthday presents and tested them, a little chalk and cheese but hey 'rule 1' applies. I already have a couple of Super 'D's one an old GEM kit the other the first Bachmann issue 49395 and the same 'D400' class as we called them back in 1967, this one will be renumbered D444 which was a personal favourite. Today's been spent refurbishing the loco shed on Bermuda Road with the laser cut items I made on the course so please pop over there for the update. That's it for now guys.

Hi Craig and Phil. We met today at the Manchester MRX show where my mate Peter bent Craig's ear over boiler details etc. Absolutely fabulous layout together with an thoroughly enjoyable chat with you both, I have posted some photos on my own DENT thread but don't see any reason why I shouldn't post them on here also... Keep up the good work and I'll see you at Heywood show next May!

Hi all, Had a great day at the Manchester MRX show where I met up with several guys I knew and met some new RMWebbers, in the main I met Craig who owns 'Leigh Bridge' which was on show, my mate Peter and I were quite besotted with this layout and Craig was willing to chat about the various and fabulous fine detailing work carried out on this fleet of 80's diesels, the general visitor would probably see no difference but to our 'trained' eye some of the detail was just fantastic from handrail positions to the differences between Clayton, Spanner and Stones Vapour boilers and the small but accurate differences on the loco roof detail denoting type, Craig's knowledge was inspirational and I know we'll be meeting again at the Heywood show were we are both booked to attend next year. Now guys I'm sure you know me and my love of engine sheds or whatever you wish to call them so here's a selection of such scenes from the MRX show Firstly 'Fen Marsh Depot' Next up is 'Leigh Bridge' Both of these layouts looked brilliant and the weathering and detailing was just superb. Well worth the trip to the MRX this year, The only sad thing was news of the Stamford exhibition suffering from wanton vandalism on an epic scale causing the police to class the venue as a crime scene such was the total destruction of both layouts and traders stands by two alleged 15 year olds, doubtless the law will wrap their knuckles and perhaps issue an ASBO! The law is an ass as the saying goes but I hope they throw the book at the little B£$%^^&*. Sadly this was all the photos I got due to too much chatting haha! Edited due to Typo!

Hi all, I'm off to the MRX show in Manchester today, hope to see some of you there!

Hi all, I remember this layout in its old guise at several shows and thoroughly enjoyed watching it back then, fortunately I visited the Derby show at the weekend and to my surprise I recognised it straight away (I never look at pre-show info.) I only managed about 30 minutes watching the layout at Derby due to my mate booking the wrong train to Crewe! Then today I got a copy of BRM and to my surprise its there again - double pleasure all in the same week! And plenty of time to take it all in. Additionally I was stood next to 'dcc125' at the show and have been viewing his upload on YouTube to see what I missed! I am now going to read this topic from start to finish over the next week or so and look forward to seeing its progress, well done to all of you for the sympathetic restoration of such an exhibition favourite.

Struggling to upload files due to limit even though its nowhere near 10mb as each photo is about 300kb only, so I can just follow the progress of the daily pick-up goods... Midland 3F 0-6-0 43474 has travelled from Carlisle calling at all stations collecting mostly empties today it seems Its washing day at the station masters house, also showing up well is the distance signal wire running through the Gorse bushes and over Monkey Beck, If you ever visit Dent station you can clearly still see the posts dotted along the stretch, sadly that's all that's left of the signalling. The pick-up has been halted at the signal awaiting instructions, the two vans in the loading dock will be removed and any loaded vehicles left in place. That's it for now guys.

Hi all, Carrying on from my Dent thread due to upload limit we move onto a layout called 'Hyde Lane Servicing' which is 'O' gauge DCC Sound, very impressive! Another 'O' gauge showpiece was 'Kirkwood' again DCC sound Now to my favourite at the show 'OO' gauge 'Charwelton into the 80's' which had plenty of action and some fabulous trains, sadly travelling by train restricted our time available so actually only saw about half of the storage yard pass through. And as luck would have it, I noticed the camera setting had slipped!!!! The final layout I got a couple of overall shots of was another Southern affair ' this time its P4 scale and called Sidmouth, fabulous modelling. On the way home changed at Crewe and managed to capture this rescue 57 57307 'Lady Penelope' That's it for the Derby exhibition. Regarding the layout itself, I have suspended work on the loco shed as I have a masterplan brewing to renew the glazed/timber sections of the sawtooth roof but need to wait till the end of the month to see if it all transpires, if it does I'll have another string to my bow and life just may be a bit easier. The roadway continues Old Metcalf cobbles removed and continuing to lay the SE Finecast plastic type, all looks a bit rough at present but a coat of paint or two will transform things. The strips seen below the cobbles are to form the camber .040" in the centre, then .030" each side and .020" nearest the gutter. I'm in two minds whether to install the tram lines or not, time will tell! That's it for now.

See Bermuda Road for more as I've hit my limit on here! Not keen on this new set up I have to say.

Hi all, Here are some images from yesterday, quality perhaps a bit dodgy as the lighting in the show was supplemented by strong sun shining through the roof and windows and I feel the camera was having a fit! Firstly as we travelled by train we had to change at Crewe where these two locos were awaiting a special I think, they move dout of the bay soon after these shots were taken. The loco's are 57305 and 37611 ( I really dislike the shape of the yellow warning panel on the 37) Now to the show, first up is Norwood Park with plenty of Southern Region action Next up is Kingsbey, a really nice modern image layout with plenty of quality items of rolling stock all weathered to perfection A Class 121 'Bubble Car' awaits its next turn of duty in the yard The weathering is fabulous on this layout.

Hi all, Went to the Derby show and was very pleased with the layouts and the trade support, well worth a visit if still considering. Will post a few pics tomorrow once I download things.

Hi all, Went to the Derby show and was very pleased with the layouts and the trade support, well worth a visit if still considering. Will post a few pics tomorrow once I download things.

Hi all, I'll be going to the Derby show tomorrow by train for a change! I actually worked in the building the show is housed in, its a listed building as I believe it was possibly the first railway roundhouse originally constructed as a loco shed for the Midland Railway, in my day it was the Crane Repair Shop in Derby Works and I served part of my apprenticeship there, fabulous timberwork in the roof area which is often featured in the likes of Bargain Hunt and Flog-it. The straight annexe room used to be the Millwrights Shop and I also worked in there carrying out general factory maintenance, happy days...……..erm!

Hi all, I'll be going to the Derby show tomorrow by train for a change! I actually worked in the building the show is housed in, its a listed building as I believe it was possibly the first railway roundhouse originally constructed as a loco shed for the Midland Railway, in my day it was the Crane Repair Shop in Derby Works and I served part of my apprenticeship there, fabulous timberwork in the roof area which is often featured in the likes of Bargain Hunt and Flog-it. The straight annexe room used to be the Millwrights Shop and I also worked in there carrying out general factory maintenance, happy days...……..erm!

Hi all, Been busy on the MPD building and roadway this week This side has had several detailing touches to the brickwork to lessen the overall brick red look, also all the roof vents and chimney have been removed in readiness for renewal of the roof slates The inside now has plasticard brick in place of the Superquick printed The annexe areas are taking shape I decided to replace the printed brickwork on the other side with SE Finecast Plasticard even though its probably never going to be seen, here its had its 1st coat of Brick Red Its easy to see the difference the brickwork toning down makes when comparing the annexe to the newly painted main building Inside the walls are now Plasticard lined awaiting a coat of white paint to the upper with a black area around 12mm from the ground This section of roadway has had a complete rebuild by removing the Metcalf printed cobbles and replacing them with SE Finecast cobbles which have a built-in camber with 0.040" styrene strip under along the centreline, there are also a pair of 0.030" and 0.020" leading to the gutter just to keep the shape. The white area in front of the monument will be a small garden area Looking closely you can spot the drain grids in the gutter After just a couple of colours applied it certainly needs more detailing, only about 6 more foot to do on the other boards! That's it for now guys.

Hi all, Naturally I'm still busy on Bermuda Road and in my usual way I tend to find more to do or just make more work for myself! Anyway I managed to run another few timetabled trains on DENT. First up is the ex:08.05 Carlisle-Skipton local which today is a Met-Cam 2 car DMU (Class 101) The DMU slows as it passes under bridge No.96 'The Coal Raod' for the impending station stop Rolling gently into the 'up' platform Patiently awaiting the 09.05 'off' Station staff guard the barrow crossing The DMU heads over Widdale viaduct en-route to Skipton with next station stop Ribblehead. Stanier Black 5 4-6-0 45190 has the ex:04.20 Bescot-Carlisle (Viaduct) van train The class 5 rumbles past the box The nice broadside view does not impress the hard working local coalmen This view is a bit of a contortionists position The van train rumbles over Monkey Beck bridge No.95 Its mainly downhill from here to Carlisle for the crew of 45190 Another of Stanier's 842 Black 5's this time 45253 on a Class 5 hauled mixed freight The train is the ex:06.50 Salford (Brindle Heath) - Carlisle Another broadside view featuring a few of the herd of Belted Galloway cattle in the foreground The train is a fairly lengthy affair with a good array of goods vehicles in tow The typical Midland Railway single slip on the main line is prominent The Class 5 rattle through the platforms en-route to Carlisle Cont/...

Hi Mick, Thanks for clarifying the terminology - I'm chuffed I actually remembered who told me all those years ago!