Mark Forrest

A much less productive day today with some time spent tidying up the mess I've created around the layout. One important job ticked off the list though, the road crossing. Like most of the plain track on the layout, the rear siding uses Exactoscale Fast track track bases. Had I planned to have a road crossing here, I might have used something else for this section but this will do for now (longer term, there might be another turnout added somewhere around here). I sliced as much of the chairs off as I dared, then added a framework made from some Evergreen strip. I then added some planks (more Evergreen) on top of the frame. Not perfect, but it will do for now.

Let's see how many leftover bits I have when it's all assembled 😀

More painting this evening. I'm sure, somewhere, I have the tin of paint that I used for the sky on the original layout. Obviously now I need it, I can't find it anywhere, so the whole layout is getting a fresh coat of sky grey ("Brooklyn" from B&Q). While I have the board on its back, there a short section of track that needed a dropper adding and there is an uncoupling magnet that needs attention.

More progress with the layout fascia today. Firstly, cutting a strip of hardboard to tidy up the bottom of the boards. Then more painting... I'd forgotten just how time consuming this stage of getting a layout ready is; but I do think it's worthwhile.

Be careful if the baseboard is deeper than the brackets. Leaning on the front edge of the baseboard could see it topple over and end up on the floor! While foam board can work, I believe there is an argument for having a reasonably amount of weight in the board to help counterbalance any overhang.

I use a Tam Valley juicer on Fryers Lane. On the whole it works very well, with no obvious pause or hesitation when the polarity switches. One issue I do have, which I've mentioned in topics here before is a tendency for a spark from the rail when the wheel bridges the gap to the frog. Nobody else I've spoken has noticed this, so I do wonder if it's something peculiar about my layout which uses steel rail and a (now ancient) Roco Multimaus. I gather the Multimaus has a reputation for putting out a slightly higher voltage than some other systems, so that might be a factor. Based on my experience, I probably wouldn't use a juicer again. At some point (excuse the pun) I'll replace the frog juicer with microswitches switched by the servos that throw the tie bars to eradicate the spark.

Just two weeks to go before the SWAG member's day in Taunton. Last section of ballasting done today, along with a bit more of the base layer of greenery.

It looks like they do sunrise and sunset, but sadly no disco mode on these ones. They are, however, adjustable from warm white to cool white. With the old setup I had separate strips of warm and cool LEDs, this appears to no longer be necessary.

I made the most of the nice weather today by making the lighting beam for the layout. Luckily, I had a couple of strips of ply in the garage that did the job. Having the luxury of a van to shift the layout in meant I could make the beam in one piece rather than having a join in the middle. As the layout is now longer, I've raised the front fascia slightly, but ensured that it still hides the top edge of the backscene from normal viewing distance.

The Great Western Hotel next to the station was where Spams and I stayed last year (and are again this year). A little more spendy than some other options, but a very nice hotel with an excellent brekkie. https://thegreatwesternhotel.org/

Thanks! It's one of these maintenance stands from EBMA https://www.ebmahobby.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=65_77&product_id=90 Yes, it is turning out to be quite useful.

The plan is that this extended version of Fryers will occupy the wall adjacent to my modelling workbench, so providing a convenient test track and somewhere to take photos of my latest projects. With that in mind, I'm quite pleased with how this view is working out. In time, there may be an alternative building that could swap places with this one.

Yes, it was surprisingly quiet, only place that was remotely busy was the car park off Walna Scar Road which was packed!

Up to the Lakes for a ride yesterday for a nice longish XC loop starting out from Grizedale and circumnavigating Coniston Water. From High Cross car park (nr Hawkshead) up towards the trail centre at Grizedale, but instead of heading into the forest, down to Parkamoor and through Blawit. Up onto Woodland Fell, then down into Torver then back up again past Scarr Head to reach Walna Scar road for the descent down into Coniston. A bit of quiet road lead to the bridleway from High Tilberthwaite, past the disused quarries, High Oxon Fell, Iron Keld and down to Knipe Fold. Got to be honest, I didn't have much left in my legs for the last climb on the road up Hawkshead Hill and was relieved to see the entrance to the car park. Main reason for heading up that way was that Mrs F had sold a bike frame to someone in Preston and it was easier to drop it off than send as a parcel. We got really lucky with the weather, perfect conditions and couldn't have asked for a better day for it. The route was great, nothing very technical but a decent amount of climbing and some amazing views, 3900' in 26.5 miles.

Reading the responses above, aside for the points about operators, it occurs to me that much of what makes a good exhibition layout, actually makes a good layout in general.

The trip to Statfold yesterday reminded me that in a moment of recent weakness I gave in to temptation and bought a diesel brake tender. I'm not sure why really, I can't see that the traffic on Fryers (or any future layout I have in my mind) would justify one, rule 1 and all that. Anyway, I took it out of its box, gave it a quick look over and put it to one side while I focused on more important things. Last night, I swapped the bogies over to a pair of Brassmasters compensated bogies that I put together a few years ago for something else. It's sitting a little low and needs a spacer to set the ride height. Cosmetic bogie sides ordered last night. Nice little distraction. Think it would probably benefit from some new buffers.

Yes, so far it's working reasonably well here. I'm following your progress with Wibdenshaw over on EM 70s, it's coming along nicely. It's funny, without the deadline of an exhibition I do nothing; with a deadline I have a tendency to turn the hobby into a chore. With the layout appearing at the SWAG member's day (3 weeks today), I seem to have found a nice balance of wanting to get the layout done to a reasonable standard, but not feeling too much pressure to get it 100% finished. That seems to be making the whole process a bit more enjoyable.

Here's an example of the SEF material after a coat of red primer.

I had an enjoyable visit today. Perhaps a little underwhelmed by the exhibition, but a couple of rides on the narrow gauge and a good mooch around the roundhouse more than made up for it.

I suspect you’ll get many different answers to this, but for me there are three things that come to mind when I think about what makes a good exhibition layout, those are: A consistent approach to detail across the whole layout and stock Presentation - well lit, near eye level, high back scene Reliable and realistic operation Whether it’s worth planning to exhibit is very much a matter of personal choice. If at the planning stage, it’s certainly worth making allowance for the layout being transportable. Exhibiting is time consuming and adds some degree of pressure and deadlines to the hobby. It can sometimes require a bit of a thick skin, as inevitably you’ll find some critics amongst the punters viewing the layout. On the flip side, it can be a hugely satisfying experience and a great way to socialise with like minded people. Exhibition deadlines can provide the impetus to get elements of the layout finished too.

Popped over to Statfold Barn today, primarily in the hope of picking up some more ballast and some engineers blue brick paint for Fryers. I failed to get both of these, although did get the olive green paint I need to finish off a couple of engineer's wagons. Exhibition itself was OK, I spent more time looking around (and riding behind) the collection of narrow gauge locos (and waiting for a veggie burger to be cooked) than I did looking at the exhibits though. Good to catch up with @2ManySpams, who was on day release from the naughty step to go and look at some trains. It's the first time I've visited Statfold despite it only being 20 miles away, made for a different and interesting day out even if it didn’t help much with getting the layout finished.

If only I hadn't already chopped off the NEM sockets. Three links on everything is the answer, I'll make a start on fitting them this morning.

Having spent the afternoon working on the layout, I thought I'd have a look at some stock for it tonight. The extra siding space demands a bit more stock. I've got a few wagons that are near finished, just needing couplings fitting to get them into a usable state. So, I mass produced a batch of AJ couplings. And fitted them to a VBA and VGA. The ferry wagon was next in line, but there is so much detail underneath it I can't see anywhere obvious to attach the tail end of the coupling - so that now finds itself temporarily filed under "too difficult". This also prompted me to check that the uncoupling magnets work. 3 out of 4 of them do; the one on the new siding (siding 2) has added itself to my pre-exhibition snagging list.

Still listed on their website: http://www.sefinecast.co.uk/Building Materials/Building Materials.htm Wills I find the sheets too thick, too small and the bricks overly large. Slaters is my second choice, but the SE Finecast sheets are my default choice.

The fact that you tried several different locos suggests the a problem with the controller (or, no offence, user error). I'm not familiar with the Powercab, but am sure there are plenty here who are. Might be worthwhile posting a few photos of how it's set up and what it shows on the display and see if that gives any clues. Testing your locos on someone else's controller would also confirm that it's a controller issue, if that's possible.