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Looking like a Masterpiece George. Dave.

Lovely stuff Jerry, I did manage to have a look at Warley, although it took a while to get to the front. It looks stunning in real life AND in the photos. Cheers, Dave.

Thats a labour of love Jim, and dedication to getting it right. Can't wait to see the rest! Dave.

Sorry I missed you too! Compared to smaller shows, it can take ages at Warley to get around and do things, no "just popping out for five minutes" All the best, Dave.

Looking great George, I have to admit that I'm not very familiar with the class, but it certainly looks right. I often find I have to re-inforce etched parts, particularly coupling rods if there is only a single thickness. Excellent job, Dave.

The front bufferbeam is always a distinctive part of a loco, and its worth getting it right. On the moguls its its a double layer assembly, made from two layers of etch. Yet again the N & U are different. There was an etched frontplate for the U, but no rear plate, so the N rearplate was used. You can see the different outlines around the lower edge of the beam, and these will be filed back to match. Dave.

Looking very nice indeed Guys, the sea looks most inviting. Cheers, Dave.

One thing I didn't say about the chassis was that I made new spacers for the frames. Using the 00 spacers on the etch would have resulted in a chassis that was too narrow, with over half a mm of sideplay in the axles. Having the wheels slopping sideways has clearance consequences for the motion, and could lead to poor running. I widened the frames as far as I could while still allowing a minimum of sideplay on the axles. You could file down the EM spacers to do this, but i built new ones. I initially said I wanted to fit Backscratcher pickups, as on the W-Class earlier, but soon realised I couldnt do this. With the whitemetal footplate sitting on top of the frames theres no space to fit the PCB strips or bend the pickups over the top of the frames. So it had to be conventional wire pickups and the fact that this loco has larger diameter wheels meant that there is more space available around the etched spring detail to fit wipers. So the pickup plate is both utterley conventional, and my preferred method Two extra horizontal frame spacers added, 1mm above the bottom of the frames. This provides a 1mm deep recess for the 1.6mm PCB pickup plate, the surface of which is then 0.6mm proud of the frames, providing sufficient clearance to prevent the pickup wires touching the frames. Err, clear as mud? Dave.

At last some progress to report on the U. The chassis spacers are all fitted and soldered up, coupling rods etc fitted and we have a working chassis. A bit light on its feet at the moment, but with whitemetal bodywork and pickups in the tender, it should run like a dream. This view shows how narrow the Highlevel Slimliner gearbox is, enabling it to get in some tight spaces. The advantage here is that it fits in the existing cutout in the boiler barrel, without having to widen it to the extent that its visible from the sides. More tomorrow, Dave.

Good point Don, perhaps I need to give it a quick skim of plaster first in order to hide the shape of the bricks before painting it blue. Trouble is it would be like my long intended project to construct a diorama for photographing locos and stock; there always seems to be something more important to do! Cheers, Dave.

With the accelarated rush getting ready for Warley I stopped posting updates once I reached the painting stage. The new bits are pretty much finished so here's a few up to date photos. There will always be more to do; one bit that's not obvious in the photos is the backscene. It had got quite faded and darkened over time, its alright for clouds to look dark and gloomy, but not the blue sky! Using the B&Q colour matching, I bought a match-pot that was just a tad lighter and brighter than the backscene blue and repainted all the blue sky, gently feathering it in with the existing clouds. What a transformation! It really lifted the effect, and made the whole layout look brighter and fresher than previously. The use of daylight bulbs in order to counteract the hall lighting at Warley also helped enormously. I am still doing bits to Charmouth, so I will try to keep this thread updated. Dave.

All looking very neat and tidy Andy, I particularly like the idea that you've got every wire labelled for future reference. On point though, I suggest something a bit more substantial than masking tape to write the descriptions on; masking tape will dry up and fall off in a very short time. Gaffa tape is a ot more durable. All the best, Dave.

What a terrific weekend with Charmouth at Warley, in the excellent company of Ray Norwood and Mudmagnet (of this Forum) and Martin.P (not of this Forum) Charmouth ran like a dream after the recent trials and tribulations, and my thanks to everyone who who made such kind comments about it. It was scary to think of the amount of time I actually spent tidying up and refurbishing the layout; At first I thought there were one or two areas that needed upgrading, but the problem is that as soon as you refurbish one bit, other areas start looking tatty. Having assumed I had plenty of time, the list of jobs just kept getting longer, and I was still working on it on Thursday night. It was great to show Charmouth again after such a long time, I had forgotten how nice it is to operate, less stressful than Bridport. I had planned this to be a one-off outing, but I received several definite invitations, so we shall see. Thank you, Richard and Ray, for all your help with operating, company, and good humour (especially while waiting for food in the evening) And sorry for dragging you away from wet & windy Devon and that you had to endure the two-hours of queuing on the motorway on Sunday night. I reached home on the stroke of midnight, Martin will have been later as he had to get back to Paignton Heres to the next time! Dave.

Good to see you Jerry, I take it you survived the Beefeater Experience on Saturday night? It only took an hour and a quarter for our food to arrive... Hi Paul, Sorry not to see you, but at such a large show you always manage to miss somebody! Thanks for the comments, I have been approached about showing both layouts together again, but havent committed myself yet. Hi Andy, Apologies for missing you too, and thanks for your comments on the layout. In my defence, I didnt go near the bar! (Only in the evening) I was probably eating/guzzling tea/drooling over Lynton & Barnstaple layouts/scouring secondhand bookstands etc, etc. Should you feel the urge to "go narrow gauge", please jump in, the waters lovely. All the best, Dave.

That would explain why its dropped off my radar! Its looking very nice indeed Dave, I hope Junior appreciates the work thats gone into it. How are the running qualities? Cheers, Dave.T

Sorry this thread has been a bit quiet recently, I've been concentrating on preparing Charmouth for Warley, bit I've not completely neglected the U. Finally worked out the relatitive dimensions etc. I was struggling to tell from the photos the boiler/footplate distances compared to the N. Eventually the penny dropped, that the U boiler is 3 inches higher than the N, as the axles are 3 inches higher and the firebox has to sit above the rear axle. This accounts for the difference in the cab front, there being no room for the second set of spectacles above the firebox. So, boiler has been lowered to sit closer to the footplate, and the cab lowered to sit correctly on the footplate step. In addition the trumpet-shaped smokebox has been filed parallel and a new wrapper made from 5thou brass with a line of rivits around the rear edge. Chassis has been all soldered up, and now awaits pickups before it can move under its own steam. All the best, Dave.

Its an old joke, Mudders will explain....

Very sorry you won't be joining us this time, but Ray has bravely stepped into the breach. We will raise a glass of beer to you, and probably light a candle..... Hope the wife gets better soon, All the best, Dave.

Apologies for not updating recently, but I've spent the time actually on the layout rather than the forum! And no photos yet for the same reason. The buldings are finished and looking good (to me anyway), ground cover/hardstanding areas in the goods yard have been re-done, coalyard is finished, backscene has been partly re-painted as it was looking decidedly dull, lighting is being sorted (got some hefty Daylight bulbs to counteract the awfull hall lighting at Warley) curtains fitted, locos cleaned, tested and packed. Still to do: rolling stock to check, new grass needs colouring, some more low-relief trees to make up (they tuck between the scenery and backscene) and then pack up the whole thing ready for Friday morning. As usual, its all taken far longer than I anticipated. Theres a heck of a lot to do when getting an old layout up to scratch for a show. Who's damn fool idea was this? Oh yes, mine.... Cheers, Dave.

Hi Barry, Thanks very much for your suggestions. Following a gap of a week or so while I regained my sense of objectivity, I have been back to operational testing. This time on Charmouth where the wiring is much simpler. After considerable operating/testing, I was still experiencing glitches in running and a general lack of prodictable/positive control. So with Warley less than a week away I have decided to stick with dc for now, and removed the decoders from my locos. (I hadnt got around to fitting all of them anyway) Its quite a relief to get back the positive, precise control that I've always enjoyed, even if I have to live with the section switching. Running on dc with the decoders fitted didnt work either, although the manufacturers claim the decoders to be "transparent" to dc, there was still a delay on starting followed by a jump into movement. I'm not completely giving up on dcc yet, maybe I need to try a different system. The Lenz Set 90 handset with the big control knob looks the best for me, but I had been put off by the price; approx twice the cost of the Powercab to start with. I've been offered a Roco Lokmaus system to try out as well. All the best, Dave.

Superb modelling/layout, can't imagine why I havent seen this thread before! All the best, Dave.

I first read this with dismay, thinking you meant that the whole thing had been torn-up and reduced to bare baseboards! But now I've looked at your Blog I see this isnt the case. Penhydd has to go down as one of my favourite layouts as it stood, but the addition of the milk-depot has raised it even further. If I had built Penhydd I couldnt bare to part with it! Many thanks, and best wishes for the new project, Dave.T

Smashing job Matt, lovely piece of work. And an inspired bit of lateral thinking to adapt the chassis like that. I would never have thought of it. Interested to se that you used Humbrol spraycans for the black, how doid you get on with these? I've always used good-old Halfords, also acrylic. All the best, Dave.T PS Whats next?

Extending the footplate drop turned out to be fairly straightforward, but took quite a bit of preparation. I first filed the spacer roughly to shape, soldered it to the underside of the footplate, and then finished the filing. With the footplate firmly taped to its cradle the front section was held in place and quickly tack-soldered. When convinced that it was correctly positioned I finished adding solder. The photo shows the finished underside filed back to clear the chassis and cylinder block. The footplate drops are now pretty much the correct depth, and match up with the tender footplate. The cab front and sides now need filing down so that it sits correctly on the footplate; and of course the boiler and firebox are too high, and need lowering relative to the footplate. I have to dmit that the U is a loco that I had never paid much attention to in the past, with the N being more common in the Westcountry, and had always assumed it was just an N with bigger wheels. With this project I have come to realise (as the rest of you already knew) that theres FAR more to it than that! Cheers, Dave.

"Builder and model both doing well"