Dan Griffin

I found this an interesting typo, Anyone know if Sandra Kan still works for Hornby as she is a whizz with the airbrush?? :-)

Good morning, I thought id give an update on proceedings. I have added a back scene now all timber construction has been completed. a simple use of lining paper and a light blue paint will suffice. track laying proper will commence this week as when not at work I am limited to what we can do, as you all know. The lifeboat has been painted. since this was taken it has been completed with decals and glazing. I have also raised the level of the sea as I was unhappy with the height of the docksides. Dapol shop/flat kit built and weathered as a seaside shop. home made window pics and Walls ice cream signs. this will be placed on the beach section of the layout. the windows are drying glue and glaze. Kibri Tug, built and rusted up a little., I have added additional aerials and some small details, Mock up of the beach access/frontage. a wills toilet block will sit behind the shop. Metcalfe viaduct is an impressive structure. this is at the opposite end to the beach. rough plan of the station track layout. the station will be like Exeter ST Davids. incoming loco hauled trains from one direction will have to go into the yard to run round and return to form the next service. this will add operational interest. Now for some civil engineering. a hole was bored through the garage wall to allow the preserved steam line access into the 1:1 scale world. A static 8F model is posed at the tunnel entrance to give a taste of things to come. although it looks like a double track main line, it is in fact one line, the left hand track runs round in a loop and comes back through the tunnel on the right hand side. MGR style. The premise of the preserved line is that it is an old MGR line to a colliery ( which will be in the situated in the garden shed). British Rail closed the branch in the late 1970's during a downturn in Coal output. Negotiations between the preservation group, the NCB and BR allowed the preservationists to take hold of the track bed on a 100 year lease. thus the 'Daisy line' was born. This lease also included the use of a fairly modern wagon repair shed. The preservationists moved in and started to run trains whilst raising funds for the track to be upgraded. During 1987 Coal demand and output from the opencast mine increased and the NCB along with BR approached the Daisy line board for the use of the track to allow coal traffic to be moved by rail. Part of the agreement was that BR would upgrade the track and level crossing to allow coal traffic to use the mine during the week and the steam trains to run at weekends. the branch being signalled by token block. Flyash traffic, to infill old coal pits, also runs down the branch. This will lead to the sight of coal sector 58's and 56's running alongside a shed that houses 4f's and a clayton! a further update will follow once track laying commences.

Just a note of thanks. ordered again for the umpteenth time, and time and after time, excellent, ( and most times) next day service. cheers

Here is my efforts from some years ago. a Railfreight class 29. I parted with this model some years ago to a member of a previous incarnation of RMWeb. Are you still there and do you still have it? I have no idea who it was but it was on RMWEB. this was one of my earliest repaints. I have improved since then. anyway. here it is, doesn't look all that bad.

Hello, and welcome to my new thread on my new layout. Called Fairhaven Quay. This may stick although I might change my mind later. The layout is 17ft by 18ft and will be DCC controlled. Points will be manual, maybe wire in tube, Railway electrics for motors etc are really not my strong point and I try to avoid them where possible. The layouts timeframe will be 1986-1992/3. Southern based with third rail and lots of NSE workings and 50's. My son also got involved and had some requests, A sea wall section and a steam railway. The steam railway is going to exit the room through the wall and run in an MGR style loop in part of the garden back on itself, negating the need for any points/complex electrics to be outside. Below are some pictures of the progress so far. I have managed to erect the baseboards in two weeks between work and home life. It is also an interesting exercise in economics. To try and obtain the timbre for the layout as cheaply as possible. As you can imaging this is a big layout and 9mm ply from the major retailers would have been £100's. So I turned to social media, and obtained all the 9mm ply wood (25 3.5ft by 2.5ft sheets for £40), 15 OSB off cuts (£1 each for a 4ft by 1ft board) for the back scenes, and 50 lengths of 19mm by 38mm roofing tile timber for frame work (£30). All in All the timber and wood screws has cost in the region of £130. I was quoted more than that for ply alone!, that include 15 lengths of CLS timber bought from B&Q for legs/wall battens. despite planning it to scale in a graph paper book, I still managed to have 5 sheets of ply left over! The beginning, framework erected and as I do not plan to move any furniture once the layout is up, the top of my stock cabinet doubled as a leg support. the timber frame sticking out is that start of a wide section that crosses the room. I found construction a lot easier this time than my previous layout, as I bough an electric circular saw which made cutting the wood correctly every time very easy. I will admit I can not use a wood saw in a straight line for love nor money. I was meticulous with the levels and had a slight incline on my last layout due to my own poor craftsmanship and some locos struggled up it. The lift up section to allow me to use the doorway. Just beyond can been seen a lowered baseboard for an embankment, some may remember I was given an old BR training layout. have incorporated this boards into this build. This section is wide, 3.5 ft and discets the room. my main station and harbour will be situated on this board. Testing the main station area to see if my 7 car scale length HST's will fit. (don't worry the MML mk3 is due to be repainted. ) The dock area. after building this I bought the scalescenes cargo ship to build and found that I had underestimated its width. this harbour base has since been extended by 3 inches. A mock up of the start of the sea wall section. This tunnel which will be here will also hid the start of a dive under to the storage yard wich will run under the main boards along one wall. Having a play around in the harbour area. The amended harbour basin, with jetty walkways and slipway added for the small fleet of fishing boats to dock at, the deeper harbour will be towards the right of this picture where the Dapol crane is. The first incumbent of the harbour, Fairhavens lifeboat. The airfix kit has enough transfers for me to make the name up, and researching these vessels shows that they all carry a 17-XX registry. I cannot find a life boat with 17-01 so this boat will become that, in homage to a certain famous Star Trek Star ship. I know these boats were not launched until after my time frame but it is such a good looking model that I have stretched the timeframe a little to allow it to be there. This was quite a complex kit for a skill level 2! and I was amazed I got all the handrails off with any damage. 'water lining' was also quite difficult. the main body section has not yet been secured, as I need to paint the interior and add glazing once painting is complete. Well that's it for now. next will be track planning. I have a design in mind so will have a good clear up and sort out of the railway room and then start laying track. in the meantime I have two Kibri boats to build and a load of scalescenes boats to make. This will not be a fast project, as I have to split time with my three bambinos, SWMBO and the Labrador and have a fourth baby on the way in July. As they say its a marathon, not a sprint. but it'll get there. until next time, Dan.

Hello any recent updates or pictures of the layout? Also I am interested in your fish cold store. where did you obtain it from or is it scratchbuilt? regards Dan

This is roughly what my final track plan will be now with some modification from the previous edition. from what I can make out, I will need three reverse modules and I have created three loops. each single black line on the diagram represents one track(i.e 2 rails). I hope the diagram makes sense,

there are no double slips in the station area, apologies for being misleading. it is looking rather complex so may have to amend the design to have a single lead junction on one end, like this amended diagram. that looks a lot simpler.

The points (apart from the double slip) would all be electrofrog. I think you are correct. the diagrams I have been looking at are for single track

I have made a crude diagram of my track layout, double track, and will feature sidings etc. what I am asking is, having looked online wiring a WYE seems simple enough, but what about when there is a wye at each end of a run, like my diagram? my layout is large so diagram is not to scale. am I correct in assuming that there would need to be breaks in all rails where I have put the Red 'A' and that the WYE at the bottom of the diagram would be the exact same as the one at the top? any help would be great. thanks.

Has anyone built this kit, if so what advice can you offer as to the build, is it straightforward etc.? thanks Dan

The loco is currently stored undercover inside Wansfords original running shed. I believe if you visit you can be escorted to it. this is my pic of it from 18 months ago.

From a former Nene valley member I can shed some light on this loco. It originated at Bridgenorth, but only ever steamed there once. it moved to the Nene Valley railway and last steam there in 1986. This loco has a somewhat Macabre following, as this loco 64-305 has been confirmed as having hauled trains to Auschwitz during the holocaust. Sad history of the loco. regards Dan

where do you obtain your ships from for oo gauge. regards Dan

What about thick (3mm) mounting card? The thick stuff i can get from the range, cut and used under the track. Once ballasted you wont see it?

Hello. does anyone use anything other than cork for their track bed? are there any good alternatives to use on a permanent layout? I have just started a large (17ft by 17ft) layout and cork will prove very expensive. I was looking at something like this, but have not seen it in the flesh yet. https://www.diy.com/departments/diall-thermal-insulation-roll-l-10m-w-0-5m-t-2mm/1906878_BQ.prd thanks in advance.

I'd love to do Zero X and Skyship one, but the costs proved prohibitive for me. especially since I built model spaces' big Thunderbird 2 and vehicles. I have built the Aoshima FAB1 and Thunderbird 1, also TB3 and TB5

Here is mine. If you get stuck for colour i used revell Lufthansa blue and Halfords ford riviera blue. https://youtu.be/8eVJIVhCA0w

I've had a read through this thread but couldn't find the answer, so can anyone shed any light on the development vehicle they are making as a stand alone car? I have seen a pic online of the coach but would like to know if it will have conventional couplings or special APT couplings on each end.

That is stunning

Though id revive the thread as ive been reading about this layout in BRM and watching it on youtube. do you have a track plan for the layout anywhere ? thanks

Hello. i need a gear for a Hornby j94. Part number x8264. A double gear. But everywhere online is out of stock. however can anyone confirm if part number x8251 will fit? This is off a Hornby terrier and I have been told they are the same, and they certainly look the same. any help would be great.

The wagons may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they work well for me. I had to add boards on the side of the wagons as the home made ARC logos just would not sit correctly on the ribbed sides. with the cost of all the materials they cost about a third of an accurascale rake. they run on Dapol wheels. the buck eyes are ones I had knocking around in the spares box. the run really well and look the part. most importantly of all were fun to build. thanks for looking and I will read and comments you may have. thanks Dan