87023Velocity

Thanks Jeremy, yes the etch is the class 90 detailing kit. More rubbing down of the solebar this evening to remove the bottom lip from both sides. Also removed the inner sand boxes from the bogies. These were removed during BR blue days but the Farish model was never modified to suit. Cheers Simon

Happy New Year to you all. Now with Christmas out of the way, I can resume working on Dallam. Continuing with the class 20's, I have now received some nice etches for the WIPAC headlights thanks to Pete Harvey. Now the cab and nose ends have been filed flush, its time to look at the bodyside and frame. I have made a start on removing the bottom lip along the length of the frame as this is not present on the prototype. Here is progress so far. Once sanded smooth, the long range fuel tanks will be fabricated and fitted into place. Cheers Simon

Hi Cav, Nice job on the class 56 grills. Those signal heads look quite crisp too. Cheers Simon

Regards the 86's in Swallow by Dapol, one went for over £200 on Ebay (Jeremy just beat me to it!)! I need several Virgin liveried examples and I have not seen one on Ebay for a long time so think mine will be repainted versions. Cheers Simon

Hi Jeremy, Track is progressing nicely, it will be good to see those 86's running through. Nice work on the 86's Cav, excellent livery . With 87101, are you going to modify the roof to suit? Cheers Simon

Evening, Class 20 No 2 arrived this morning. Purchased from Rails via Ebay. Stated as poor runner, it had been over oiled which was affecting the pickups and motor commutator. Once all cleaned, it runs well although noisy as it has brass gears fitted and the old style wheels. Going to convert the body and then decide whether to keep it running or make into a dummy. I suppose the brass gears are unlikely to split like the plastic ones. Here is a comparison side by side for the windscreen mod I have done. Cheers Simon

Hi guys, Thanks for all the comments and PM's, much appreciated. I will get back to you, its been a mad few days work wise. The cab front on the 20 has now received a coat of grey primer to show any areas which require further sanding etc and there are a couple. Cheers Simon

My next stock arrival for Dallam. The Virgin mk2's arrived, not so much a bargain, these were £14 each but they are difficult to pick up though. Here they are with 86425 standing in for a XC 86 on a Birmingham to Glasgow. A FNW 158 slows for the Bank Quay stop with a Manc Picc to Llandudno service. Just need 4 more TSO's for this rake. I may for the time being use some Intercity liveried ones to form a mixed rake if cannot get anymore Virgin ones. Cheers Simon

Hi Simon, No problem, Good that you have bagged a couple of bargains too. Not joined the N gauge society yet, need to do it though. Cheers Simon

Hi, Thanks for all the comments everyone. Regards the bargains, a few different sources. The 20 was from Toys and Models at Hawes, they are still showing it on their web page. The Farish 57 came from a shop in Bournemouth via Ebay. The DMU's and the 2 EWS 60's have come from the preowned section at Hattons. Except for the 57, all have been bought as non runners, so its taking a gamble I suppose and hoping it pays off! Cheers Simon

Hi Alex, Regards the sound, would it be possible to set up some background sound for the layout, for example locos on idle, occasional horn blast, air guns from loco repairs. I know its not individual loco sound but it could help create the depot atmosphere? Cheers Simon

Regards running in pairs, I am seriously thinking of having one in each pair as a dummy. Don't think I will need two powered locos on 3 flasks and 2 barrier wagons. Cheers Simon

Regards cost and treating as one loco, that was my thought aswell. I will initially have just one pair of 20's with the plan to go to 2 pairs and a single one to work with a 37/6. £70-80 for two loco's is certainly more attractive than £200. Another shot showing the progress on the 20, hopefully you can tell the windscreens look larger and the windscreen pillars look finer. Cheers Simon

Thanks Cav, the cost is the reason I went for the older version to be honest. With a bit of work, hopefully it and its partner should look acceptable. Regards the running qualities, it runs quite smooth at various speeds. Not sure how it would be at regular shunting type moves though but for Dallam it will be fine for nuclear flask traffic it will be hauling. Cheers Simon

As mentioned in a previous post, I purchased a class 20 which would become a DRS loco, again a non runner for £30. This was the older Farish design but with the finer wheelsets. Loco arrived Saturday and it soon became clear what the problem was - split gears. All 4 idler gears required replacing. The replacement gears where suitably reamed before fitting onto the relevant axles/pins. Thats wiped out my spares of 12 tooth gears, will need to order more from BR lines. Now that the running issue has been sorted, I decided to make a start on the body. So far the cab front windows have been filed to match the cab side profile rather than being square. The cab windows on class 20's have a taper on the outer edge which has not been modelled on the older Farish model. Also filed and opened out the cab side windows as per the DRS prototype locos. Just got cab and nose ends to file flat, make some fuel tanks, fit wipac lights, bogie detailing etc. Cheers Simon

Not much done on the layout but more stock arriving. Managed to pick up a second non working class 60 again as EWS 60052 for same price as the last one. This one worked on arrival but no lights working. Further investigation revealed a chip was fitted, so this was removed and the blanking links refitted, now works perfectly with lights etc. So one of these 2 models will be renumbered in the near future. I may keep an eye out for a Sector liveried 60 and that would bring my fleet of 60's to five which should be about right I think - for now! Also got a 20 on its way, I will be converting this into the DRS version. Also got 3 Virgin Mk2's in the post aswell for forming one of the Virgin XC rakes. Can't beat a tug or 4. Cheers Simon

The pair of 20's, once weathered and looking quite worn out! Cheers Simon

Hi Simon, Yes you are right but then suppose people may be put off trying to fix due to the size? One thing I noted with the 60 was the amount of grease that had been applied, it was over all the contacts which will not help. Needless to say all the excess grease has now been removed. The excess grease is something I have noticed on the other 2 60's which I have for Dallam. Cheers Simon

The trackwork is looking great Jeremy, a full length WCML rake will look smart snaking across all that pointwork, or a 12 car EMU! Cheers Simon

Hi, Not much work been undertaken on the layout over the past few weeks due to other commitments - diy! However its not stopped me looking for stock. Latest arrivals are 60052 EWS and a FNW class 150. Both bought as non-runners, the 60 was £40 and the 150 was £45. After a few minutes of checking, both found to have similar problems - loose/bad contacts. With these fixed both ran fine. Cheers Simon

Hi Jeremy, Great video, not watched that for around 25-26 years. Managed to borrow a copy from a friend when I was at High School around 1989! Cheers Simon

Hi, A little bit more done on the layout. The hardstanding is now complete around the warehouse. Made a start on the Bewsey Road overbridge for the extended version. I originally modelled this bridge as seen earlier in the thread, however I designed it to be a scenic break aswell as designing it to accomodate the tracks starting to curve around into the fiddleyard. With extending the layout, the original bridge will be fitted to the home board. The basic structure has been formed using 3mm hardboard, had quite a few 'off cuts' from the boxing.The rest of the bridge will be formed using card. Cheers Simon

Another second hand arrival for Dallam - a First Northwestern Farish class 158. I had decided a while ago that I would not buy any 158's for Dallam as I don't think the Farish version captures the look of the prototype with regards to the cab front. Then I stumbled across a FNW 158 for £30, it works but the body is loose on the powered chassis - easy fix and holes have been drilled in the cab front for I assume LED fitment. So change of mind, unit bought, plan is to remove the outer couplers and fit dummy BSI, fit closer couplings and better corridor connections between vehicles. Fit the air dam to the vehicle body, NRN roof aerials general detail and weather. Now got 2 units to cover the Man Picc to Llandudno services. Just need a couple of 150's, will keep an eye out for a cheap 150/2 for respraying in Merseyrail yellow. Cheers Simon

Hi Cav, You could also have the odd mk1/2 NSE coach aswell, this was before the mass transfer of NSE stock to Provincial. Cheers Simon