coachmann

Fair do's, that's one fine looking point.

If Heljan do produce a 'Manor', at least it will be a puller...

I have been colouring the track and tidying up this afternoon while things are cooler (85 degrees in't shed). One could take Code 100 as bullhead or flat bottom with a bit of imagination. I have pretended it if the former and painted the chairs rust colour seeing as rust off the railheads is washed down by the constant passage of wheels. Chairs in the yard are painted Frame Dirt on the goods siding and Dirty Black on the coal siding, although the rails are still rust colour because of the aforementioned 'wash down'. If modelling a diesel era yard, I would paint the rails in the yard a darker colour than the running lines.... Coaches I propelled at speed over the layout have run smoothly with no hickups, but the proof of the pudding will be after it is wired up...

The two sidings were sprayed Sleeper Grime outside. While wet, they were positioned as accurately as possible in the yard with pins and a 5' radius Peco Tracksetta and left to dry..... An hour or so later, they were glued down with PVA and real ash (courtesy PGH). When dry, the ash was filed down to dust and the surplus removed. Lack of space for road traffic movement has meant laying the coal siding along the backscene again. A Peco bufferstop, coal staithes and some static grass completed the scene. It will be seen that the entrance to the platform is as it was in steam days and not as today. However, the ready-to-plonk cattle dock arrangement is fiction due to the gates being at the back and not on the side...

The shed was handbuilt by 'the lads up the road' and the planking and framework is thicker than the usual sheds one sees nowadays. They also built my spray-shop to a sketch that i provided. The foundation is now't more than 3' X 2' slabs laid on sand. It does the job and i don't go in from November until late February, indeed why would I when a model railway is not my 'life', but is a pleasant retreat. The problem I suppose is I am a builder and so, as enjoyable as operation can be, I have to be 'doing' all the time. Carrog has had a good run considering my mind is often on other railway locations that I would like to construct in model form, but for the moment and probably next year as well, it is safe. I cannot get the GWR out of my system yet, but if I ever do, I have in mind something LMS in the Pennines in the early 1930's built on a steep incline. Lots of fully panelled coaches, coal wagons and ex.LNWR locos.

Nice to see someone else is modelling the Llangollen Line. However, one thing I would say about the real Llanuchwllyn station is it has a spacious feel about it despite trees. This timeless scene could have been taken in 4' 8½" steam days... One of my friends who lives just up the road from here is a driver there. His name? Robert Fairley.....I kid you not. He is sat on the right.... A view towards the goods yard taken from the down platform in 2014.... A shot from the end of the goods yard in 2015....

I cannot put any blame on bullhead track. The problem is the garden shed environment. Not only does it suffer a temperature range from below zero to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but one end of the shed has sunk slightly over the years causing an incline in the baseboard. I would not hesitate to use bullhead in the house, but I am where I am and I have asked a lot of it since 2008. Good running means far more to me than anything else. Code 100 is a well-proven outdoors track system, so it is high time I used it. Besides, Code 100 has a pleasing appearance all of its own and I can see why it is still popular. For those aiming for fine-scale 00, bullhead is the natural answer these days.

You learn a lot more from being constructive than playing with Lego thanks.

I could not agree more. The average modeller is most probably aiming higher especially now Peco bullhead is on the market. One of the well known advantages of Code 100 is its suitability for outdoor model model railways. This is why I am using it while applying the techniques and colouring I adopted for finescale track. Rails have been painted with matt enamel paint matched to Phoenix/Precision 'Rusty Rails' shade. 'Dirty Black' applied around switch blades and fishplates etc...

Job done....All the track is back but it needs wiring yet.... Track remains in Sleeper Grime colour. I normally paint the rails rust colour, but experiments are needed this time as I do not want to exaggerate the rail.... There is a smoother run into Carrog now that it is on a shallower curve. The straight points were barely bent....

Is that a decoder or a blanking plug?

Seagulls can tell the time! For the past week or so a big beggar has dropped on the lawn while I was on the patio eating me butties. I was running late laying track today, but at 12.55, I heard it drop on the shed roof and start patting its feet! Then it dropped onto the grass and made funny noises to catch my attention. Brainy chappies them gulls. He seems to be top dog around here and is keeping the other gulls out.

You have got yourself a busy summer/autumn ahead. Also two box-openings tomorrow (Thursday) before 1pm!

Unifrogs forever! They allow one to secure rail ends more firmly with metal rail joiners. Having just gone back to Electrofrog Code 100 points, I have been restoring insulated rail joiners and soldering on a lot more electrical feeds.

Section 1 is now laid, ballasted and dried out after being under weights for an hour. Sleeper spacing does not stand out as much as it would against grey ballast; another reason for sticking with dark brown ballast (fine)...

The track was sprayed outside with Railmatch Sleeper grime, brought back into the shed while wet and carefully re-formed as closely as possible to its finished profile so that when the paint has dried, the track will retains its shape. Seeing as I lay and ballast in one go, the next move was to split it up into convenient sections for gluing down with neat PVA. The unconnected yard tracks are merely there to position the set of points. Section 1 covers the platform tracks.... Section 2 includes the points... Section 3 covers the plain track leading outdoors.... The 1/8" cork base has already been shamferred with an electric sander. The new formation is further from the edge of the embankment this time. Note the trackbed is cambered....

Posted Today, 17:33 bgman, on 03 Jul 2018 - 09:59, said: Might even have an Ivor Dewdney tidie oggie to celerbrate. hahha http://ivordewdney.co.uk/ With an accent like bgman, you'de be celebrating with a Brummie bacon cake....

Just got back from shopping for some more 1/8" cork and the response so far has surprised me. I expected something along the lines of "Oh no, the poor fella's lost his marbles".

Friends Merf and PGH of this forum know what has been happening, but it is unexceptional; a backward step some would say, and so I have been holding off updating. Bullhead track doesnt like being leaned on (I lean on everything!) and constant track cleaning led to some dished rail joints as seen under the centre driving wheels in the shot below.... After the outdoor sections were relaid with Peco Code 100, I could easily have relaid the scenic section with bullhead, however, I have adopted Code 100 for its rigidness and durability, although I readily admit is certainly not as realistic or pretty under the camera. I anticipate it will give much smoother running and that counts a lot to me. The track is awaiting gluing down.....

50mph road too. The rear-ender still had his foot on the gas when he mounted the sports car.

...And Wales is getting the blame.....

There is the still the 'small' matter of bending the rails, making the 'V' and filing down the switch blades, attaching a switch bar and inserting the lot into the 3D plastic chair base. Then there is the problem of fragility unless the bullhead rail is held at strategic points by metal 'staples'. All this filing & forming has to be done regardless of the form of construction, yet from my experiences of many years ago, the easiest bit was soldering the rail to the copper-clad sleepers!

A curious omission from Hornbach.... And a likely candidate from Oxford Rail.

Classic boy-racers.

Pebble-dashed diarrhea + pristine driving wheels.....Wot's tharrallabout?