ullypug

That's a very clever idea. Might have to pinch that!!

Funnily enough, I think the same when I look at Farthing!

That's really rather lovely. Good work sir! Can I ask what colour you paint the sides of your rails?

Some more videos: Who says P4 doesn't work?!! I spent an enjoyable day on the layout today, running a selection of stock to check alignments on everything. This was the stock from Wheal Elizabeth which I knew worked on that layout. So any problems would be the new layout not the stock. A couple of board alignment issues came to light that hadn't previously but a quick dab with soldering iron sorted that out. After a while I was prepared to try the propelling move from the down main into the down yard which ultimately will involve a couple of as yet unbuilt siphons. These were stored in the yard here for fruit traffic. I'm pleased that the two Hawksworths had no problems at all. They're on Masokits sprung bogies so I know at least they work. Somewhat amusingly, the long wheelbase Hornby Van C which is uncompensated or sprung didn't fall off anywhere either. I did find out the auto tank is wired back to front though! D6342 is the loco that started it all off for me on Cheddar. I found a photo on a book of it circa 1963 hauling a two coach train at the station and I thought. 'now there's an idea...'. So once I was happy with the layout I put the stock away and spent the rest of the afternoon terraforming embankments by five ways bridge. It'll be nice to do something that isn't wiring. Like painting rail sides and chairs. Deep joy. As a distraction I'll hopefully be cutting wood for the main station buildings this week. Oh and building a few wagons in-between. But that'll be on the other blog. Here are some photos of various moves. I'm going to need a lot more engines and stock yet!

All packed and ready for Kidderminster Railway Museum. We open at 11:00. Come and say hello!

I like the keeper plate idea. I've done something similar but never as comprehensively as this. I might pinch the idea for the next loco!

That's very nice work Dave. Any chance of a photo of the underside of the chassis with the keeper plate removed? I've probably got to do a class 2 tank at some point for Cheddar, so I'll be following with interest. I've certainly got the 2MT tender Comet kit to do.

I'm a very happy bunny right now. Having put the remaining boards up, I've finally managed to get them wired up and working. There was an annoying fault with one section that took a bit of time to track down. It was an errant strand of multi-strand wire forming a short circuit in the plug for an as yet un-connected ground signal. It only shorted everything once it was attached to the adjacent board. There was a lot of head scratching and frustration until I finally found it. But today! Well, engines have been tested and playing has well and truly commenced. Once the wheels were cleaned on the pannier it worked even better. Ahem... There are some areas where a bit of fettling will be required, notably a couple of board joins where the track summits over the join. Nothing falls off, but there is a noticeable movement in the loco. It's not entirely surprising given that each board was built and wired in isolation but I don't think it will be a major exercise to correct. Some of the track alignment could use a little work to take out some of the kinks as well. Not obvious when looking from the side, but it is when viewed from two boards away. Thankfully ply and plastic track is quite adjustable. So once I've done that I can start add cosmetic chairs over the riveted ones I've used (sparingly) around the layout so far. The pictures give a flavour of what I'm trying to do. I'm pleased that it's all coming together. There are even a couple of videos too. I've also spent evenings this week working on the drawings of the station building and goods shed in Coreldraw. Just got the clerestory roof for the main station to do and it'll be ready to cut wood/mdf. I'll save details of that for a later blog.

Looks very nice too.

In advance of the EMGS skills day at Kidderminster next weekend (hope the snow thaws), I've been finishing off a number of projects. They're all in P4 by the way. I'm doing a demo about the various springing systems for wagons that I've used/or not. First up is the Craig Welsh chassis for a RCH under frame. These are sold by the Scalefour society and fold up in a single unit. I really like them. I've posted pictures before and this sits under an ECC body I originally built (badly) 35 years ago. I've since detailed the sole bars with crown plates etc. The originals didn't survive the dismantling process. Next is one of Justin's rather spiffing Rumney Models wagon chassis kits, in this case for the 21T hopper. I probably should have started with an easier one, but I already had the Parkside body assembled in another frenzy of poor model making, hence it needed a new chassis. These kits are really good and I've a fair few more waiting to be built. They are an exercise in origami, but well thought through and if you take it steady, don't present any problems. The instructions are fairly comprehensive! The standard BR hopper did find its way on to the Cheddar branch for loading quarried stone. Then there's something a bit different, namely the Prickley Pear system. This is a hybrid between sprung and compensation. Both w irons rock but are retained by a wire at the outer edge which springs off a central evergreen square plastic section. The cosmetic springs were fixed to the w iron leaving a space under the sole bar to allow movement. The Toad has one of the Morgan chassis kits marketed by the Scalefour society and has adjustable w irons both laterally and at one end, vertically. Personally I think it's a bit over engineered. It's a lot of effort to avoid springing out the W irons when inserting the wheels. I've never had any issues with this on any of the other systems I've used, so for me anyway it's solving a problem (which it does well) that doesn't bother me. The instructions were very comprehensive too and the range covers just about every sort of GW wagon you could wish for, Then there's the masokits sprung chassis kits which form into pre-determined lengths around a chassis spine. The springs are thin steel strip. I didn't actually build the chassis bit but I have put it under the coal wagon. Lastly there's the Bill Bedford system, marketed now by Eileens amongst others. I must confess it's the standard system I use and get on well with. Not shown is standard rocking W iron compensation, which I will have on the demo stand and lastly, uncompensated. For every one who tells you springing and compensation is an essential, there are plenty of others who make do without quite happily. At the end of the day it's a personal choice. A bit like choosing the best auto coupling system... My personal choice? Bill Bedford W irons, Rumney Models and Craig Welsh chassis kits. They work for me. The others work fine, but building them hasn't persuaded me to change. edit for typo/grammar

Hi Has anyone got a set of instructions for the Kemilway Standard 3 tank which they could share? I picked up a kit a while back but instructions were not included Happy to pay postage costs etc. but scanned and emailed pictures would be fine Thanks in advance

Thanks John

Thanks Mark

Thanks. I have a small collection of original enamel advertising signs. The Lever Bros is actually for Sunlight Soap and you can just see a Masters Boot Polish one too. I've a Colemans Starch as well as Lipton Tea and Royal Daylight Oil. They're in the garage as I'm running out of wall space to put them up in the house! I should scan them all and save on Tinysigns really...

After a couple of weeks of distractions and other modelling projects, I've managed to set up the layout in the garage where I can get 6 of the 8 boards erected at any one time. Today was all about making a set of supports for the panel and connecting boards together. Pleased to report that everything towards Wells is now working, after one or two wires had to be swapped round (caused by the change in colour code scheme I mentioned in an earlier post). There'll no doubt be a few bits of track to fettle as the pannier I was using slows down and speeds up in some places (I'm assuming tight to gauge on straight track) but I've spent a good half hour driving trains backwards and forwards with a big smile on my face (and if I'm honest doing what could be vaguely described as some kind of dad dancing round the garage but I don't think anyone saw me...)! So I just need to swap out the two boards on the left to allow me to get all the Axbridge boards up to test those too and it'll be done.

Good luck with the build. Craig's etched chassis are really good. I used one under a Cambrian English China Clays RCH 7 plank wagon I originally built rather badly 30 years ago. Justin's kits are good too. I've just built my first one.

Undoubtedly!

8 scenic boards in total Tim, 22ft scenic section by 3'3" deep. I either need to build an additional 2No 5ft fiddle yards or a shed load of other boards if I decide to make it roundy roundy.

thanks But of course. Its P4!

Coming thick and fast now, helped by the thinning out of track as I approach the Wells end of the layout. This latest board has taken very little time to wire up and (whisper it quietly) that should be all of them now done. I've just one board to check as it was done some time ago and I can't remember what state it had got to. I've certainly changed the colour coding for the wiring since I wired it up! I daresay there'll be the odd plug to wire up as well but that shouldn't take too long. Hopefully I can find some time to put a few boards together at the weekend and start testing. I know they all work individually and I've joined a couple together at a time. It feels like quite a milestone when the next step doesn't start with 'wire up board x...' Let's see how long before I can have a train traversing from one end to the other! Pictures attached. The board is rectangular despite appearances.

and also for fruit/veg traffic from Brittany via Plymouth.

"Layout operating? Toughest job in the world"

I know that some of the rebuilt walls in the floating harbour have iron tie rods extending horizontally 12-15ft back into the bank/ground behind. Might make a nice feature !

Um yes! Plan is to hopefully get some mdf laser cut this year.