shanks522

Really good footage Ian, I particularly like the overhead clips later in the video! Reckon you need some more of them 👍 Nice to see the subtle changes with the scenery, and very impressed with the 59 on the stone train, looks excellent 👌 Graham.

New wagons 👌 Graham.

These little beauty’s arrived today, fantastic 👌 Graham.

Hi, Nice layout with excellent stock, look forward to seeing more. Graham.

Hello all, Now the weather is a bit cooler and we’re getting in to modelling season I thought I’d venture into the loft. The west side of the layout was adapted in the spring so I can install a viaduct and small station ( more of that to follow soon), while I was at it I added a return loop, this enables trains that leave the fiddle yard to turn and face the opposite direction to return when needed. I was running a few trains and even with a lot of track work only two trains can run at a time as the junction would easily get blocked, had a play with a set of points and think I’m going to make this into a three track section to make it easier to bring trains out and also add some play value. Graham.

Really like the night time shot Dave, very atmospheric. 👌 Graham.

What a great photo 👌 Graham.

Hello all, little bit warm in the loft at the moment but finally built the cover over the Dust sidings, nothing complicated, just some 3x1 either side and smaller cross braces with Perspex on top. came out ok but thought I could enhance it further with some lighting, purchased a roll of warm white LEDs and bobs your uncle, all the trains safe and dust free. 👍 . Cheers Graham.

Looking better and better Ian 👍 The canopy’s really enhance the platforms, are you going to add lighting?? Graham.

Very much looking forward to your creation Graeme, as David said the buildings are superb, it’s going to be a masterpiece. 👍

Nice work on the units Ian 👌. Graham.

Loving the new extension Mike, I think you’re mad doing it all in finescale but it’s going to look fantastic! Best of luck! 🤪 Graham.

Very impressive wiring Dave, gives me shivers!!! Years ago I had to adjust wiring on an 0 gauge layout I’d built the night before an exhibition, ended up ripping it out and pulling out of the show 🤦‍♂️. Graham

Anyone interested in the 08 stay alive fitting, here’s the link to my workbench thread. Graham.

Hello all, Stay alive into a Farish 08, madness you say???…. well I watched this video on YouTube, thought I’d inquire if they could do one of mine, then I thought I’ll have a go, what’s the worst that could happen! 🤦‍♂️ I emailed Rich whose channel it is to ask a few questions, bought a stay alive kit from eBay and off I went. Firstly everything needed. next up, body removed, chip out, sizing up the capacitor. Attempted to solder to the next 18 socket which I found impossible! One wrong move with the soldering iron and you short out all sorts, not worth the risk! I emailed Rich once again and he suggested a new PCB with solder pads, much better!!! forgot to take pictures of the new PCB. Then attention turned to the body, I’d bought some milling bits for the dremel which made light work of removing material around the cab. Once tested and working ok it was time to reassemble, I did buy some liquid insulation type glue which had gone off by the time it was delivered, instead I used Maskol to prevent any shorting on the metal body. capacitor in the cab. Time for testing! I really am grateful for the assistance from Rich, without his knowledge I’m sure I would have a dead 08 sitting in the sidings, instead I have a fantastic loco that will negotiate the worst of track, dirty spots and dead frogs with ease. Extremely pleased with the results, now to attack all the other locos! 🤦‍♂️🤣 cheers Graham.

Hello all, Feeling rather pleased with myself as I’ve done something I never thought I’d be able to do, fit stay alive into a new Farish 08, will post more about the process on my workbench thread, but for now, enjoy. Graham

Hi Phil, The rolling roads are great, amount of times I’ve had a loco playing up, stick it on the rollers and leave it for an hour or so, easy 👌. Hi David, cheers, it’s turning out better than I thought, nice to have a bit of variety on the layout for operation and photography. 👍

Hello all, Exciting new addition to the layout but not without problems! I’ve been undecided of which new 60 to buy and finally decided on a sound fitted 60002 in GBRF. Arrived today in excellent packaging, nice touch with the 50 years of N connection, couldn’t wait to test it. unboxed and placed it on the track to run it in, fired her up and she sounded great, gave it some power and it struggled to move, whining noises from the bogies, not good! On closer inspection, two of the gears were ever so slightly distorted, little bit of manipulation with a scalpel and seemed ok, this ended up taking over an hour though as every test wasn’t quite right, thought I’d sorted it so time to give it her a run. This lasted all of 20 seconds, first set of points and the loco jumped over the frog, bit strange as everything else runs fine?, checked the points, all good, try again, nope! Ran slower to observe and the wheels seemed to hit the check rails, examined the back to backs and they where well off, extremely bad! Took the bogies off, removed the wheels and reset them all, reassembled it and much much better. Quite annoying for a new model, and yes I could of returned it but I’m confident enough to repair it, hopefully just a Friday night job. when I discovered the problem with bogies I thought I could swap one out from a different loco, wrong! Farish have retooled the bogie with a shallower mounting! Still a very nice model though. Graham.

Hello all, Work on the layout is mainly wiring at the moment, nothing exciting, just monotonous repetition! 🤦‍♂️ I’m also in the process of changing the left hand side of the layout, long story short and additional turn in the loop will allow a scenic section with a viaduct and small rural station. The demolition phase is complete but construction is a little slower. On a better note I’ve been servicing a few locos, here’s 37402 on the rolling road in the depot. Graham.

This is very impressive! Graham.

Looking fantastic David! The gantry’s and the buildings at the front really add more depth, superb!! Are you going to weather the track at all? Graham.

Well done @TomE for the video. I really liked the comment about virtual coach packs, building your own so to speak, very interesting. Looking forward to whatever is in the pipeline. 👍 Graham.

Hello all, The graffiti artists popped in tonight with the airbrush and gave the track a layer of grime, green peace also turned up to do some tree planting 😂. Graham.

Great news! Both the Dapol and Farish 66s are good but definitely showing their age now. I do hope there’s plenty of weight in the new one, my only gripe with some of Dapols recent offerings is the lack of tractive effort because of how light they are. Graham

Hello all, More basic scenery to the depot area, including a removable section behind the retaining walls. Graham.