lankyphil

Ran out of curved track? Got a little gap that needs filling? Just bung a little bit of straight track in!

Had to drill a hole in your trackbed after ballasting? Just leave the sawdust in the fourfoot. (Spillage from a biomass hopper)

Old topic, might be some help?

A rather expensive solution for rolling stock storage... There was a rake of HTAs and a rake of carflats in there the last time I passed. However, there has been a new hardstanding laid alongside the siding that heads north in the middle of the aerial shot. Always seemed a bit odd to lay out a railfrieght terminal here, given as how the connection at Wellington faces towards Shrewsbury, leaving you either with a short (for freight) loop to run round in or a convuluted journey via Shrewsbury to get towards Brum and various main lines?

Just to add, had a good look at the set that was sat in the loading area at Seaforth this afternoon, its roughly half and half FXAs and FKAs. There's a pair of FKAs sat just outside in the run round loop between the container port and the Corn Mill with one wheelset on a dolly. There were a few stabled further down the docks near the Strand Road gate in what I assumed was a cripples siding, not sure if these were them and have been moved for attention.

She was bought by Henry Bath & Co for breaking up on Tranmere Beach. (Saw this picture in an office today and wondered why it rang a bell)

Maritime were running Containerbase, it's moved to their old yard on John Gilbert Way now. Yep, it's going to run down Wharfside Way, Village Way, through the middle of the Parkway Circle roundabout, across the canal with park way then fall off the edge of the embankment and head to the Trafford Centre

*finds old Ouija board* "I don't know guys, that stuff is dark--" "What's the worst that could happen?" "Spirits of the dead give us your message!" W-E-H-A "Guys--" "Shut up" W-E-H-A-V-E-U "Guys--" "Keep going" W-E-H-A-V-E-U-P-D-A-T-E-D-O-U-R-P-R-I-V-A-C-Y-P-O-L-I-C-Y

A weasel walks into a bar, the bartender says “I’ve never served a weasel before, what can I get you?” “Pop” goes the weasel

Found in Hull docks!

Is it near the round tuits?

Is that not part of the fun of doing it though? Because even though it'll be invisible, you'll know it's there?

They're not meant to represent anything I think. They're clips for holding set track together if it's not pinned or glued down.

Sheds? Chicken coops? Should've gone to specsavers...

Finally got around to getting some paint, then finally got around to spraying it! Looks a dam sight better now, and it works as a motivator in itself, as it looks better it inspires you to do a bit more... Next job, wire up the marker lanterns and some interior lights. Which will mean I'll need to build an interior...

Cheers mate. I'm thinking the caboose will probably be red, normally the common colour for them on smaller railroads as far as I'm aware

So progress on the caboose. The old chassis has been shortened, the floor bolted on, the verandas stuck on and a coat of primer slapped on. I wasn't too sure about the proportions, but once the cupola was added, it looks a lot better in my eyes. I think I'll add some sort of underframe equipment between the bogies still, then a rudimentary interior, lights for the lamps, couplers, then paint it, the list goes on!

Well it's only been two months since the last wittering! But, I've actually done stuff!! Shock horror! My coaches have been disassembled, painted, and reassembled. The colour? BR Maroon... Which I don't think look too bad behind a black 4-6-0, especially in the sun Surprised no one has had that livery idea before! The line has been named though, it is now the Melbreck Valley Railroad. Just need to decide on the lettering for the livery. That's all for now folks!

Just still visible on the Gobowen - Oswestry line at the A5 level crossing. "To Contact BR"

We were discussing your new additions at the club last night. We've come to the conclusion that you're becoming an LNER modeller. Congratulations :-P

It sounds impressive doesn't it, until you realise it's in G scale, so is actually pretty easy. In the garage/workshop/man cave/dumping ground, the line from the garden enters, then splits into two sidings, with a docking area for yet to be built loco cradles on a kickback off one of them. The points form a basic crossover, so I wanted to link them together to operate as one. Mainly because I can. My original plan was to use Meccano. But, after knocking up a test piece with two cranks, I found that there was just too much slop in all the joints to get reliable action all the time. Replacing the Meccano with RC aircraft parts, namely a bit of bowden cable and a plastic crank, married to a Peco ground throw, works fine though. The youngest has just pulled the operating arm out of the ground throw however. Oh well, another excuse to spend some more time in the train room tomorrow!

Well, it has been a while! But progress has been made!!! So clear up from the last entry, yes, the hole in the wall was too small, the whistle (the highest point on my Bachmann Annie) was fouling it. So I trimmed a bit from the top. Then I found the tender handrails were too wide. So I enlarged the sides. Then everything finally fitted! Some more Metposts were sunk, a few uprights fitted in, then decking boards laid on top covered with some roofing felt offcut, kindly donated by Dad. All of which left me with what looked more like the beginning of an elevated motorway... I needed a removable section, to bridge between the garage and the elevated section, as I am fitting a door (mainly for weather protection), but of that later. So, with the purchase of some second hand track from Steve Lewis (of this parish and G Scale Central), I donned my navvy cap once again and started track laying. The addition of track makes a world of difference. It also tends to attract small children. Mainly my son. Who either wants to know, "Daaaad! What you doing?", "Train come out?" or what he can hit with his "knock knock" (Translation from toddler speak = [Toy] Hammer). But the addition of some wire makes even more difference, because then we can get down to the serious bit. Playing trains. No, I meant testing the track laying. Honestly! So I trotted out the ten wheeler (looking very grotty due being covered in dust from garage-wall-hole drilling) and ran about a grand total of 8 feet down the garden. Not much, but it's a start! I was concerned about the gradient, but she was quite happy to push 4 Bachmann coaches back up the hill into the garage (where they start going through an LGB R1 crossover) without any real fuss. I've also knocked up a door to replace the bit of ply that was wedged in from inside. So all of this has been a slow and steady effort, culminating in the big push (Wiring up and testing) over the bank holiday. (Mainly because mum and dad were entertaining the kids). However in a brief period of freedom, Dad attacked some of the undergrowth in the Raspberry plantation, where I'd thrown some track to indicate roughly where the trains would run to the Domestic Planning Officer, and created this shot. All that's missing is the drone of the raspberry harvester and the rattle of the loading cranes as they load raspberry hoppers ready for the next pickup freight. That's all for now folks!

Yup, Originally they left the other side of the loop for excursions and special through services. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7204/14013892312_f442b4ed16_b.jpg Gone now though.

Yes it's 6 days a week now (Saturday's service goes south on the Sunday)