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4 hours ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

Can you clarify please?  As the owner of a large exhibition - only layout I have a vested interest in such rumours. 

I was told that the Warley Club had an agreement that gave them the exclusive rights to organising a model railway exhibition there. So either that has expired, or it is more of a general modelling show which the NEC has hosted on a number of occasions.

5 hours ago, brossard said:

 

What astonishes me is that layout operators get their travel expenses paid.  Here, for most shows, we get nothing.  Those who exhibit do it because they want to share their work.  There are exceptions, in August the club exhibited my layout at Exporail, a very good railroad museum.  We were paid $450 for the weekend.

 

...If they choose to claim, I don't for one days shows that I would go to anyway because by the time I've got in for free and been provided with lunch I probably owe them money. I also get free electric car charging at work so the free miles that that car does around town pays for the petrol to take the other car and layout to shows.

Short video today showing the Interurban set testing Hershey's home made "train line" which often gets asked about, the existing trolley poles would contact with strips on adjoining cars to connect the 1200v overhead supply along the train. 

Only the centre car is powered and has working poles (Bowser), the rest of the metalwork is 0.7mm brass although I eventually need to replace parts of it with T section. In theory it is possible to use this for the headlight connections from the decoder.

29 minutes ago, Chris M said:

Over the years it’s been surprising how often a layout that has been fine on Saturday afternoon has developed a number of glitches by Sunday morning. Must be those gremlins. Or more likely the temperature and humidity changes. It doesn’t take much, especially in N gauge.

My new layout is currently set up in the garage so has been operated at temperatures between freezing and 30 degrees without any I'll effects- although I did design it so it isn't reliant on fishplates for connectivity and all of the important gaps have a physical barrier to stop them closing up. Pretty much all of the locos have stay alives fitted or decoders with enhanced "brown out" because I learnt from previous projects that static grass near the track is the enemy of reliable pickup. But something I can't control is direct sunlight on part of the layout- not only does it generally ruin the lighting but has also caused issues with part of the overhead expanding in the past.

I'm still surprised by the number of issues that could be prevented with a little thought and planning- such as adjustable feet that undo themselves in transit that can be cured with a spot of threadlock, and dodgy connections through chocolate block that undo themselves instead of a proper soldered plug and socket.

21 hours ago, MarkSG said:

 

That's one of the ones I'm really looking forward to. I'm a fairly bog standard UK steam modeller myself, but I love seeing layouts of rarely modelled and exotic prototypes.

I too thought it was exotic until I was shuffling cars around on it yesterday, and put the yellow West India Fruit Reefer back on the layout. It once again stood out as too garish (which is why it didn't really feature on the magazine photos) and I realised that with black locos, maroon coaching stock and brown freight cars I had basically copied 1950s BR....

On 10/09/2023 at 08:42, Suzie said:

 - the cars are built well enough for a life considerably longer than ten years - mine is ten years old and you would not know that it was not brand new apart from only having about 80% battery capacity.

11 hours ago, Nick C said:

A lot better than their modern IC cars then - a colleague used to have a QuashQai and reckoned it spent more time in the garage than on the road (in stark constrast to our old Micra which was still perfectly mechanically sound at 23 years old, but the dreaded tinworm got too much...)

By the time it was three years old our Qashqai had had a new 12v battery, new brakes because they were made from rust, a new Aircon compressor (again due to a manufacturing defect) and I am monitoring the oil usage due to it possibly being from a batch fitted with wrongly sized piston rings. 

Has anyone gone from a Qashqai to a Kona or Niro? Despite the Qashqai had a few things I like that aren't available they seem like the best choice for a replacement. But they do seem a bit smaller and I don't want to compromise on layout lugging space.

Since my main modelling interests seem to invariably involve scratch building, RTR can be useful for "nice to have" models that would otherwise be unobtainable due to the time and effort required- I liked the Rapido Hunslet but really wanted a green Beatrice as per the preserved loco but it wasn't an option in the first batch and buying one to repaint would have taken modelling time away from more pressing projects. The only other pre-order is a Met no.1 for a very slow burning project but I perceived a risk that prices would skyrocket should matching coaches be announced and as soon as I paid inflated secondhand prices a second batch would be announced.

I shall be flying the flag for non-UK layouts with Alonzo Mill, the current Continental Modeller ROTM. I shall be ably assisted by @doctor quinn, who is yet to tell me that he will be bringing a green class 47 for the inevitable photo opportunity ....

A recent Continental Modeller editorial lamented the cancellation of the European Railway Society show later this year and with the German Railway Society's broader Globalrail not continuing and Derby no longer alternating between North American and European themes for one smaller room, there aren't any specialist shows for these themes outside of society AGMs. Furthermore, a number of the larger shows that are financed by British interest magazines rarely feature layouts that wouldn't be of direct interest to their readership, leaving non-UK layouts at the mercy of invites from the club circuit.

12 hours ago, Jonhayes said:

I’ve just built some 16 ton minerals so it will be 16 ton mineral wagons.

^^^this post.

On 02/08/2023 at 12:26, spikey said:

Anybody know how they converted a steady supply of steam into a controlled regular pull/release cycle on the end of a string?  What was the mechanism?

This is the rope-operated bell on the roof of a GE Steeplecab, the mounting was first moved from the hood to the cab roof and later converted to air, using a simplified mount and an air operated clapper mounted inside the bell. Obvious differences are when operated with a rope you would seen the whole bell swinging on the frame, but later on it was fixed in place and the air pipe with square corners and a water trap can be seen.

On 22/08/2023 at 21:56, PaulRhB said:

I like the interurban cars and the steam, would love to do a small countryside bit with a station but so many other projects I’m resigned to enjoying it in books, DVD’s and models like yours 👍

I know that feeling, I've seen a lot of Narrow Gauge this week and I'm now hoping that I don't find a lost Quarry Hunslet that needs a home...

On 19/08/2023 at 17:26, PaulRhB said:

As my copy dropped through the letterbox finally I thoroughly enjoyed reading it this morning. Now to resist ideas! 😆

I'd be interested to see or hear other people's ideas based on this- I'm still finding it fun to operate (as well as leaving one of the Interurban cars running on the ABC shuttle) but a Mill was probably a bit of a cliche- there was a Rum distillery next to Santa Cruz del Norte but photos of it are scarce. I'll probably go ahead and make the proposed second fiddle yard beyond the town scene for use at home but am in danger of going beyond the initial concept of small and achievable....

On 17/08/2023 at 21:50, Andrew Young said:

Only just stumbled across your thread, I must look at the foreign pages on RMWeb more often! Shall have to look out for a copy of CM and have a read. 
 

If your trip includes Tywyn, the newsagent on the High St stocks a full array of railway mags. 
 

Andrew

I did find a copy in Pike's Newsagents in Porthmadog this morning, I might go back and ask them to put it in the window....

I'm not sure if we'll be travelling as far south as Tywyn, might do so to escape the weather that seems to channel itself up to Ceredigion Bay. 

2 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

Looks great in the pics Andy. I’ll save reading until the paper copy arrives so o can enjoy the pics ‘full screen’ 

I'm not sure why the cover is different, they usually don't have a full page as per last month's preview. Unfortunately we'll probably be away before my sub copy arrives so I'll be scouring North Wales for one...

57 minutes ago, Koala Creek said:

Just read your article in the September issue of Continental Modeller. Great article and fantastic photos!

In the article you mention that you had a look at a nice laser-cut kit for a large sugar mill, but that it would need quite some adjustment for your layout. Which kit is that?

It was from Bergen National Laser, but I'm not sure if it is still available. 

This is why you shouldn't read your own articles- there are bits that aren't fully explained such as why I wanted to model something with pantographs but without saying the public didn't understand operating the Yakima layouts with trolley poles meant constantly fiddling with them and getting in the way, and the photo of the diesel hauled mixed train didn't make the cut. But I was up against a 2000 word target.

The height of the pans on the Steeplecabs also grates with me in the photos due to a 2mm error in height and an extra 1mm for the magnets, so I have been trying to reduce their bases without breaking them...

Anyone would think I've been raising stuff belonging to the Missus and kids. I have been working on a gantry crane to fill some of the air space in the maintenance shed. The wheels (Lego roller skates, brought especially) run on the I beam so can be positioned. The chain is from the spares box and is probably too thick, the thinner one is a gold chain brought for the upper arms of high-speed pantographs.

Although I haven't yet seen a physical copy, I can confirm that there are eight pages of Central Alonzo as Railway of the Month in the September issue of Continental Modeller....

One compromise I've had to do is actually finish things, instead of waiting for the off chance that a decisive photo of a loco might appear instead of working from one blurry end shot or another with the original logos patched over. 

I've also learnt that if you've modelled something obscure you need display boards to explain to the punters exactly what they are looking at, and even then for the one person who recognises it or has been there they'll be ten telling you something different or distracting you by saying how your 2'10" gauge Patagonian third rail Interurban relates to how many Triang Brake vans they have...

After an hour of watching the C4 Formula E coverage which ended just as soon as they started racing proper, I thought the F1 was going to be eventful- especially when Lee Mackenzie said "we've got a lot to get through". But all I saw was 1.5 very fast Williams still finishing at the back and some kid arguing with everyone who came on his radio. I hope it doesn't affect his mindset during the summer break too much.  

Very fitting interview with Pierre Gasly and nice to see LH and Mercedes getting fastest lap.

I dithered over a Rapido Hunslet because although they were producing a Beatrice, daughter of the same name didn't like being a dirty colliery engine so when they announced the green livery in the second batch I ordered one. Yes I could have brought one and repainted it, but this for me is incidental modelling where I haven't got the time to waste and want quick results over an indeterminate timeframe.

In theory the Locomotion ES1 Steeplecab should have been a guaranteed sale having previously brought the kit but sold it for the same reason as above, but the pantograph wasn't convincing for the price,so I'll have to wait until they are either priced as a bargain or sold by those having a clear out of display case models. Or perhaps I'll gain gratification from all the Tyneside quay layouts being built to be exhibited.

10 minutes ago, davknigh said:

Rapido is doing a GE 44 tonner that you might find interesting and probably a better runner than the Bachmann model. They even have a generic one in yellow planned.

https://rapidotrains.com/ho-scale/diesel-locomotives/44-tonner.html

 

Cheers,

 

David

Project#3 is indeed a Bachmann 44 tonner, originally painted plain silver in 2014 but stalled because of a lack of information regarding the red stripes- I basically had an end view in b/w in a background shot. I've since seen a side view without lettering and a front quarter with it patched so still aren't exactly sure where the Hershey lettering and numbers went. I'm not sure which version it is and how it relates to Rapido's proposed range but I had to chop the twin headlights from a 70 tonner and still haven't refitted the doors. 

The stripes were masked using 2.4mm strips cut from Tamiya masking tape and sprayed using a mix of slightly faded Tamiya red so they aren't as faded as the NSE red I'd originally used- at times I wondered whether it would have been easier to produce these as a decal as despite using the trick of sealing them with clear varnish there was still quite a lot of bleeding underneath that needed cleaning up and painting over. 

It has a DCC Concepts Zen black decoder and Digitrax stay alive that fits in one of the hoods. Having lights isn't really important but I did manage to fit square SMD LEDs on stalks into the original bulb mounts making it fairly easy to swap bodies if needed. 

Despite my first proper US loco purchase being one of these I've previously only used them for their chassis so it makes a change to be able to complete one.

I've already tried it on the mixed local...

#2 is another Bachmann 70 tonner numbered 15 (the other being 14), I originally painted and decaled it in 2014 and and use it for switching and the mixed local on the unelectrified branch to Jaruco, but the home printed Hershey lettering was starting to blur. In theory it should have been a quick job to strip and re-apply the lettering, but having redone the artwork but something didn't tie-in with the spacing. It took me a while to realise using recently acquired images that I had originally followed the Bachmann grills based on blurry images when painting the red stripes and these are too long, and so the letters are bunched up instead of one per bodyside door. It's fairly easy to correct but I'd need more black decals and a chopped up body to basically move the doors forward so there are two plain ones in the middle. 

The Bachmann 70 tonner body is definitely showing it's age and although they run well with a good decoder, they aren't as well detailed as the 44 tonner that Rapido have announced so if I do start again you can guarantee that a manufacturer will release a new one as soon as I've finished....

A tale of three switchers, the first being a plain yellow Bachmann 70 tonner that is now wearing the name of another nearby Central whilst on loan from General Electric. I don't think they will be keeping it because it has the standard chassis and factory decoder which is dire.

I filled sheet up with decals for other Cuban and US projects and John at Precision Labels printed and posted it in super quick time. The Hershey brought two 44 tonners (16 and 17) and two 70 tonners (14 & 15) in the early 1950s, they survived as FCdeC stock but eventually succumbed to a lack of spares.

An atmospheric image from last weekend of a moonlight run in Yakima with 298 and a Brill Master Unit on Pine St.