hoover50008

Work has been progressing on the fuelling point and fuel off loading siding. Both are Knightwing kits and modified to suit. The fuel point painted and located in place. The fuel off loading point is coming along but still needs a bit more work to complete. A general view of the stabling point. A rare visitor in the shape of Class 27 5377 drops in for fuel. E

Made a start on the fuel point today. I opted for the Knightwing kit rather than the ready made Bachmann one as the roof doesn't look convincing to me. It wasn't a surprise that the base of the Knightwing kit doidn't fit between the rails as it was a bit of an after thought but no problem as I will scratch build my own. I found an old piece of Peco platform that will fit the bill nicely so I cut a hole to suit in the Fab Foam and packed the centre out to sleeper level with plasticard for support.. I temporarily fitted the base to give an idea of what it will look like and check it will fit. Think I will paint the fuel stanchions yellow as in this shot of 08645. E

Joe Here is the latest re-incarnation. 08645 recently back from overhaul in Derby outside No3 Road at Laira. E

As the weather was so bad today I thought it would be time to tidy this mess up. I have now completed the two jumpers across the board and tidied the rest of the wiring up, looking to start the control panel once I can source a suitable box to make it with. E

No problem Dave, it surprised me how effective they were through the plywood and as you say it saves digging the track up. E

Hi Dave They are 15mm x 5mm N50 Neodium magnets from a well known auction site. E

I have been guilty of not updating this post of late due in main to lack of inspiration. SHMBO wasn't happy with the way the station appeared and to be honest I had to agree with her as I can't say I was entirely happy with it myself. So what next then, back to the drawing board or back to the original plan of an engineers yard well a combination of both really. One of my interests in non revenue earning rolling stock so I wanted to include that be it an engineers siding at minimum, my other interest is diesel depots and before you all groan and say not another depot layout I have worked in one for the last 30 years so the final result will be a combination of both. I was going to leave the engineers siding as just that but as I had a Bachmann single road shed I decided to use that for wagon repairs, however it can also be utilized for locomotive servicing or repair should the need arise. The locomotives will mainly be serviced on the fuel point at the other end of the layout. The track plan has been slightly changed since the last pictures and has been ballasted and sprayed, the 3rd rail has also been removed from the lower level. I have also installed the lighting and this has made a huge difference bringing the layout to life. The fuelling point is at the West End of the depot here occupied by 08839, there is still quite a bit of work to do here especially to the tank road at the rear. The fuel storage tanks at the back of the tank road. Heading East we arrive at the Shunters cabin, this is a Bachmann Red Star Parcels building in reverse. It is obviously Sunday as there is time for a quick car wash. Not a brilliant picture but it shows the lighting system under the pelmit. Looking East along the layout we find a pair of 33's sharing the shed. 08839 trundles back down the yard. A closer inspection finds 33004 and 33202 on shed. The PW inspectors office is located opposite the depot. There is time for a quick cuppa before setting off in the Escort van to the next job. Behind the shed we find an old Grampus wagon full of junk. The depot entrance can be found at the East end of the yard, a Commer van is heading off out of the yard. There is still loads to do so I will endeavour to update a bit more often as I go along now, E

Great to see Acacia Avenue in the flesh at Barnstaple yesterday, such a nice simple well detailed layout. E

This Bachmann tug should look nice towing those BRUTES around. Catalogue No 44-539 E

Cheers it does love the rubbish on the roof. E

Great layout you have there. Who makes the building if you don't mind me asking. E

Looking great Richard. Is the house No 22? E

Banger blue all the way. E

Hi Richard It was good to catch up with Ray and you today. It was hot but an enjoyable show none the less. Will make the effort to get East Wickersham finished, I was surprised at the amount of favourable comments it received today. E

Hi Bob Haven't really done much recently, been distracted by real trains on the SDR. I will try and post some updates this week. E

Yeah 1985 last time it carried this livery. E

Here's another one for you Joe. E

Good progress made today. I finished off the platform, just need to paint it now. 73126 and 09022 were posed for effect. I placed the bus shelter style waiting room and ticket kiosk in place just to see how it looked and I'm happy with that. Also decided to start laying in the 3rd Rail a job I was not looking forward to. Despite it taking most of the afternoon to do 8ft it wasn't as fiddly as I thought it would be. The worst job was drilling the sleepers.

Been fitting Lenz decoders to the MLV ans 2 2EPB's today. Why do Bachmann and others for that matter make it so difficult to remove the bodies when there are so many fiddly bits to damage. Surely in this day and age it would be easy to have a slot in card similar to an SD card that could be easily fitted in the chasis. We live and hope. E

Coming along nicely mate. E

Ian the wire is at 90 degrees when coupled with a bit bent upwards at the end. The picture shows the wire (staple) drawn down by the magnet in the uncoupled position. Agreed it is a good way to uncouple and so simple. E

As the weather was so nice this weekend I spent most of it in the garden to keep the War Department happy. However I did manage to get a few bits done to Wickersham. I finished construction of the basic platform shape using Peco concrete platform edging and Wills paving sheets for the top. These will now require painting before fixing permanently in to place. After much deliberation on what I was going to use for uncoupling I decided to go down the road of fitting metal droppers made from staples to the Bachmann small tension lock couplings, I have fixed magnets under the board using super glue and these seem to work quite well. I will modify more couplings once I have finally decided what stock will be required on the layout. E

Things have been progressing slowly over the last 2 weeks or so but I have finally got the retaining wall glued in place, the bridge sorted and the wiring has got to the stage where the layout actually works. The bridge is now in place. Retaining walls fixed in. Spagetti Junction will get tidied up in due course. E

Been continuing with the wiring on the other board and that is progessing well. Mod Podged the retaining wall at the weekend and that has come up great, it has really brought the colour out so very pleased with that. Started to construct the new fiddle yard and will post some pictures in due course. E

NSE would be nice on 641, trouble is 644 was the only one of our shunters that was in Intercity so we couldn't do that one here. E