Dukedog

Ditto!

Hi Ollie, thanks for your comment. Pen Y Bont is out again in November at Wolverhampton exhibition. Just down the M54 from Telford. Maybe see you there! Cheers! Frank

Thanks very much for the input. Yes a picture would be useful if it's no trouble. How did you graft the flat bottom Peco rail to the bullhead? And how did you overcome the sleeper height difference. sorry to ask all these questions but it's useful to know. Cheers Frank

Hi all Yes, it's me again rambling on as usual, this time I'm after your opinions on 00 gauge track and the choice thereof. OK, I've just started building a new "small" layout ( Was "mini", but, as Mr Nevard as pointed out 4ftx1ft is HUGE!) I am at the stage where the choice of track comes into play. I am really close to using either SMP or C&L Finescale track but the turnout I need is a 3ft radius Wye, C&L don't list it as a kit or as far as I see a template. I could I suppose build a PCB sleeper point using a Peco point as a template, but I although I would end up with a point with the correct sleeper spacing etc. I would still have "blobs" of solder where the chairs should be. If that is the case I might as well use Peco to start with! at least the Peco "chairs" would look better. (then again I could use cosmetic chairs) I then read the article about modifying Peco track in "Modelling Inspiration" so that gives me a third choice! What i need to know is how many people actually LOOK at the track to notice weather it is bullhead or flat bottomed stuff? Also, the C&L / SMP track uses 3 bolt chairs and as my layout is ex GWR It should be 2 bolt chairs. It looks like what ever I use it will be wrong in the eyes of the "Pedants" so in the words of a well know TV advert....What do you think? Cheers! Frank

Done to a turn! Just the right amount of weathering without overdoing it. just as I remember steam in my yoof! Cheers! Frank

You hate wiring. I love it! Seriously though, I do enjoy wiring layouts and control panels. Maybe it's because of my job background as electrical technician. Some how DCC has taken all the fun of working out all the interlocking and so on. Problem solving, something I like doing. The O2 looks good too! A loco I know nothing about to be honest, being a spotter in the Midlands means I have never seen one! Good luck at Uckfield, post some pictures of the show if you can. Cheers! Frank

Now that I have committed to building my new Micro layout "Morfa Bach" and the baseboard frame is built I have now turned my attention to some "Wood Butchery" in miniature! One of the features I wanted to include on this new layout is a Cambrian wood trestle bridge. So, with inclement weather preventing wood butchering outside I have started wood butchery on the kitchen table! I have made three trestles and started work on the deck. Here's a quick look at progress to date. The three trestles are built from 5mm square section pine and 5x3mm balsa, I wanted all pine construction ideally but with no suitable stock at the local supplier I had to make do with a composite of pine and balsa. The trestles are glued with PVA and Peco black track pins aid fixing the whole frame being quite rigid once it was all set. Again the trestles were secured to the longitudinal baulks with more PVA and track pins. A start has been made on the timber decking, here I am using coffee stirring sticks glued down with PVA. The planks are maybe some what over scale but, by the time the timbers for the track are laid and handrails etc are fitted they won't be too noticeable (I hope!) Right, well, back to the bench to glue some more planking then think about a suitable paint finish More as and when Cheers Frank

HI All, Just been sorting through a load of pictures for filing away after editing and cropping in Photoshop. That was when I noticed this I know Haloween comes soon but......????? Creepy or what? Cheers Frank

I took my layout Pen Y Bont to the Telford Railway Modellers Group exhibition today. The venue was only a small hall but there was a good atmosphere about the place, the Telford Group are a great friendly bunch of guys and we ( Son in law and myself) enjoyed our day out. This was only the third outing for Pen Y Bont and again every thing worked and was mostly trouble free. I have a couple of wagons that need some adjustment and a few 3 link coupling were found to be broken but nothing that can be called a "show stopper". Reaction to the layout was good, and I have received a couple of invites from it but they need to be confirmed before I update the diary page on my web site. The only negative was that the heat in the hall was very oppressive and I was perspiring most of the day as the picture below will show! I also had the pleasure of meeting up with fellow RMWebber Northpoint with his very nice CP switching layout. Nice to meet up! Please excuse the poor quality pictures as I was using the camera hand held without flash. the shutter speed was slow so there is some camera shake and depth of field is not great. Well, that's it for this page of jottings. The next outing is at Wolverhampton on 5/6 November hope to see some more RMWebbers there! Cheers Frank

After a couple of weeks thinking and doodling with bits of paper I have come up with this.......... It is liable to change again of course, but you get the general idea. I was too late for the 2011 challenge but still need a new photographic diorama, though I think I will end up turning this into a layout in it's own right. The proposed project will be about 4ft x 1 ft and will have the provision for a fiddle yard at both ends. The scale is 4mm/ft 00 gauge. the track will be either SMP or C&L Finescale. As usual for me it has a Cambrian feel to it with a typical Cambrian wood trestle bridge and scenic setting. The siding can be used for quarry products loading and unloading OR could accommodate a camping coach, depending how I feel it will turn out. All the buildings are structures that existed on the Cambrian coast line between Dovey Junction and Aberdovey, but not all at the same place! I am hoping to start soon but completion will be lord knows when! More when I get a round tuit! Cheers! Frank

Just a quick update. I managed to get a cheap complete loco from a seller on Ebay. The transplant is complete and 7340 is up and running again. I think I will try and repair the original chassis now I know what the real problem is. I can then put that chassis under the now spare body I have and get another loco running on the cheap. Cheers and thanks to all who offered help, much appreciated. Frank

I always read the blogs first. Far more interesting than the normal forum threads I think. I too am surprised how many do actually look at my jottings. I will look forward to seeing your layout develop once you start posting some updates. Cheers for now Frank

Being the clumsy person that I am, i was getting a bit fed up of catching and damaging the ground disc signals on Pen Y Bont every time I cleaned the track. After replacing the Ratio plastic ones several times I was getting a bit tired of buying and making up new ones. So when I came across some white metal ones made by Detail Matters.I jumped in and bought a pair. They come ready painted so that was another fiddly job saved. However, they were still vulnerable to accidental damage. Then I came up with this idea. I drilled a hole right through the base board and fixed in to it a short length of brass tube with a bore that just takes the spigot on the base of the signal. I can now remove the signals for track cleaning and layout transporting without fear of damage, The Yard crane suffered from the same problem. When I built the brass replacement I made that "Plug in" as well. Again it can be removed when transporting the layout or doing any work that could cause me to accidentally bash it! I also did the same thing with the loading gauge (not pictured) Now I can work on the layout without fear of causing myself a load of work I hadn't bargained for. Cheers for now Frank

Errrrrr no! Too be honest I haven't tried contacting Bachmann direct. Checked their web site and nothing listed as spares for this model. Not surprising really as I bought it new about 12 years ago! Which raises another point, because of the models age most of the other moving parts will have a fair bit of wear in them. I'm not sure how many scale miles it's covered on various layouts but it must be a fair few! Thanks for the suggestion though I might give them a call or email anyway, You never know. Cheers Frank

Ian, I'll do you a deal! If I get a complete loco, I will give you the body to make yourself a class3! I only need a chassis and the spare tender might be useful. I'll let you know how it goes Cheers! Frank

Thanks to all above for your helpful suggestions. I will look into all the possibilities and see what comes up best for me. I have just realised that RMWeb has it's own Market place and Wanted forum so I have put a post in Wanted to see if that brings any response. Thanks again for taking time to help,it's much appreciated Cheers! Frank

My old Bachmann Collett mogul has finally bit the dust! One of the rear driving wheels has decided to fall to bits. I'm a little bit upset because when it was running it was a good runner, and I spent quite a bit of effort in "tarting it up" Now I have to decide what to do. I have looked around for a replacement chassis without much success, so the way I see it I have three options. 1 scrap it 2 hold out for the chance to obtain a Bachmann chassis from some where. 3 Build a Comet chassis for it. Considering the above options, I don't want to scrap it, The chances of finding a replacement Bachmann chassis is poor, I reckon I have a better chance of plating steam! So, it looks like Comet will be getting an order soon! More as and when it happens Cheers! Frank

A week or so ago I read Chris Nevard's Blog entry where he had made some nice non working lighting columns for his Brewhouse Quay layout. I was so impressed (and commented so at the time) that I knew then I just had to have some like that for Pen Y Bont. Now the hard bit! I wanted mine to be working lights, so I spent some time thinking about how to do it and came up with this idea. Brass is one of my favourite choices for modelling material. It is stronger than plastic, light, and easy to cut and solder. I just like using the stuff. (Maybe I have got a brass fetish???) Anyway, about 4 hours was spent at the work table today and I'll let the photos do most of the talking. The hardest part of this job was keeping the insulation of the centre conductor intact. The brass column acts as the current return so I had to be quick with the soldering iron and use plenty of flux to get a quick flow of solder round the joints. Here's the same lamp finished and painted. There are a few things that let this design down though. The swan neck tube is a bit too big to be honest, but, I had to use that size to accommodate the wire to the lamp. The bulb itself is a 12V grain of wheat lamp, I could have used a L.E.D. but, to be frank I don't like the light from these devices. Nothing simulates a tungsten filament lamp like a Tungsten filament lamp! So. being a tad over size I'll have to live with it. I plan to run 3 of these in series across a 18V supply so they won't get top hot or be too bright. The picture above is a bit deceiving due to the long exposure time on the camera. The lamp is not that bright in reality. Well, there you go, another job done, well almost, I've still got two more to make! Cheers! Frank