Trevor H

Hi Chard, As you say it could well be green and would possibly be 166 as this loco carried a shed plate while in GFY, just my eyes aren't good enough to see the diference I have a picture somewhere of the Peak with the square edged panel, will check which one it is. A bit OT but I don't suppose you've found any shots of a class 29 working The Waverley by any chance Peaks noted in BFY and still carrying red buffer beams: 89, 173, 185, 186 & 191, their could be others. Trevor.

Also found 82 with yellow panel up top of headcode boxes, but being a split box it looks like a upside down fat T. Trevor.

David Ford of this Parish has a couple of distant shots stating it is D8 in GFY in July 71 , but the number is unreadable. http://daveseastmidlandsandlincsrailwayarchive.fotopic.net/p57610734.html

6 had white lines removed on both sides, definately by 08/71 Trevor

I wouldn't like to say it is definately a green one, If it was it could possibly be 166 which had a shedplate fitted too the front along with one on the cabside (55A) above the number, also quite a few BFY ones still carried their shedplates I think the only class 45's to receive GFY were splitboxes. I'm sure Russell will tell us Trevor.

Hi Russell, D164 carried a large yellow panel, painted to above headcode box. Do you know the reason for this or if any others received it. Trevor.

Hi Graham, I will probably follow Bryn and use the Tortoise, they are something i've used for a few years now on all my layouts and have been thouroughly satisfied with. I did look at using the 2mm Association TOU's to save money but as my layout is on different levels It would be a bit awkward to feed the rodding back to the switches. Good luck with your project, the Easitrac components are a real pleasure to work with. Regards Trevor.

Thanks Russell for the updates, anything liverywise of this period always interested in Dont know if It's a new image but came across this one today of D155. http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefancabaniuk/3596347486/in/set-72157618889774105/ Cheers

Today (27/12/09) I was able to have a very long day of working on the layout, with work starting on the trackwork. I must say I come into 2mm at about the right time as the "Easitrac" components are really enjoyable to work with, along with all the different jigs for the making of points a lot easier. All but for the check rails, I have managed to complete one point, although I'm not to sure about the robustness of the way I have soldered the nickel silver wire to the point blades too throw the points and may change it, not sure which way to go but I have a couple of ideas. Some images of todays progress The almost completed turnout, the copperclad sleepers is something I did in EM gauge and basically my way of feeding current to the point, whilst also making everything solid, especially the crossing. Making use of the "Easitrac" lost wax sleeper bases, these help protect the rail at the board ends, I have stuck them down with two part epoxy and I may well also pin them. A slitting disc will be used to cut through the middle of the sleepers to stop any shorting and the slots in the sleepers then filled with "Milliput". And finally a shot of todays progress, very happy!

Although rather late this is my entry to the 2mm Association and RMweb layout challenges. The layout will be based somewhere in South Wales around 1969/70, so will be requiring quite a few mineral wagons and 21t hoppers for the coal traffic along with a selection of general freight. With all the recent stuff coming out in N gauge, I was quite taken by the Bach/Farish class 37 when released and opted to purchase one, which followed with a few other locos and the odd bit of rolling stock. This was followed a couple of months ago by joining the 2mm association along with purchasing a few wagon kits and some of their "Easitrac" components to build my own track. I decided that i needed to do something layout wise and with joining the 2mm association, i received with my members pack which contained a flyer mentioning the GJ layout challenge, I thought this would be an excellent opourtunity to get something built, nothing like a deadline, then with the announcement of the RMweb 2010 , the chance was given too run the two alongside each other. So with a few days holiday over the festive season a start has been made on the layout. This blog will show a breakdown of progress made on the layout and it's stock, so should hopefully be easy to follow. This will run alongside my layout thread which will give people the opportunity to interact. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/topic/6363-2mm-layout-based-in-south-wales/ Anyhow onto the layout, the scenic section will be 4' x 18" deep with two small end to end fiddle yards, which consists of a two track branchline with a small good yard and two other sidings for something else possibly a coal yard or something similair. The trackplan of the scenic section using Templot And a couple of pictures of the the constructed scenic board with the printed Templot track template stuck down ready to lay the track, although the runroud has now been changed for an extra siding in the goods yard and the crossover is now trailing instead of facing.

Thanks Russ, This is always the problem, none of us seem to have the room to do these grand layouts, so we do them as small as is possible to fit our requirements I always feel that you need to get a good depth in a layout, i try to aim for about three equalish sections of which a third is taken up by trackwork and the other two thirds are scenic, it seems to work. Trevor

Just to answer a few questions brought up in this topic, hopefully this multiquote will work fo me. Hi 0O00, You did and i would love too, I do like that period up to the sector livery coming in, but I'm affraid I just wouldn't be able to find the time to do it. Perhaps in about 10 years time, but by then their probably be only one track left Hi Paul, I've now decided to take it out on the exhibition circuit, so hopefully I'll get a few invites. Geoff at Trainwest has given me an invite for 2011, which was good of him. I also have a couple more locos and another dmu to finish off, so a bit more variety for the future. Cheers Scott, Although I never actually operated the layout at Cheltenham, I decided to sit back and watch others operate it including "Wibble", "D9502" and "Pixie" of this parish along with a few others. I did get favourable comments on the operating and how much time could be spent shunting each train arrival. Hi Werner, The platform was done with Peco platform edgeing i think , which was faced with Slater's stonework, whilst the top had Slater's flagstones and the rest had a covering of very fine sand glued on which when totally dry was rubbed down with sandpaper to give a much smoother apperance. Hi Dave, I had thought of having some roaming hills on the backscene, but my worry was it may lose its depth of field which is only 18" as it is now, perhaps some low hills may not be too overpowering. Originally as seen in early photos their was a wire fence running along the length of the layout, but i was never too happy with it, so replaced it with the Skaledale stone walling which is an excellent product and improved it endesley. Hi Pannier Tank, No it wasn't Templot, the trackwork was laid a few years back using C&L and done just by eye. I've had Templot for a couple of years now, but just couldn't get my head around it. But a few weeks ago i needed to plan a layout, so i sat down for most of one Saturday and had a really good play with it, buy the end of the day it all came together and the basics were sorted along with a trackplan. I now find it very easy so will hopefully be able to attempt some of the more advanced stuff in future. Cheers all Trevor

Thanks for all the kind remarks, I never thought their was much interest in the layout, quite overwelming I must say. I dont have any more pictures of worth at the moment, but promise when the weather warms up I'll get some taken and posted. I've also received an invitation from Geoff Endacot to take "Morf Mawr" to Trainwest in 2011, so hopefully will have the chance to see some of you then. Many thanks Trevor

This is a breakdown of Morfa Mawr previously posted on the old RMweb, made from previous posting which hopefully I've tidied up. http://www.rmweb.co....php?f=9&t=21887 The layout was never planned to be anything more than a EM test track to play trains on at home, started originally late 2005 it started as 5ft board with a 3ft sector plate and all that was done was to lay the track and wire it up, where after it just laid around doing nothing. In the second half of 2006 I found myself with no layout to work on and sitting at home one weekend I decided to dig it out and see what could be done, after some thought and several different ideas I decided to change the track work about a bit and build it up as a full scenic layout now 8ft length with a 4ft fiddle yard Anyhow the layout developed and by the end of the year I had a fully scenic layout to play trains on at home. Late 2007 I was asked if I had anything I could exhibit at the local Cheltenham show for Oct 2008, I said I have a smallish station come shunting plank which I use to test trains on, at home and with a bit of work it could be set up for an exhibition, ie.. a proper fiddle yard, some sought of lighting rig and a backscene, so I duly oblidged. An early shot of the layout when the backscene was fitted to what is now the front/viewing side of the layout. Anyhow onto the setting of the layout, the layout is based around 1970 on the coast of Cardigan bay between Aberystwyth and Aberaeron near Llannon and consist of a small single platform station with runround, sidings for goods and coal and a later day erected siding which houses a Provender shed which houses foodstuffs amongst other stuff. The line was originally in the plans to be built as a narrow gauge line by the VoR railway but this never happened and in 1909 plans were forwarded by the LA&NQLR to build a standard gauge railway following the VoR planned route albeit a few deviations, work finally started in 1911 and was completed with help from the Cambrian Railway just before the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. The layout appeared at the Cheltenham show in October 2008 http://www.cheltmodrail.org.uk/ I've added a map of a possibly proposed route of the line for my layout, hopefully it is feasable. The red lines are what was built by the LA&NQLR/Cambrian showing the line from Lampeter to Aberayron with Newquay branch (as built by Ken Gibbons and still seeing regular service into the 70's) diverging at Crossways. With Aberayron station been a terminus and sited where it was, i dont think it would of been possible for the line to have curved around and to be taken out via Aberarth to Aberystwth and as i would have no wish to change the layout of Aberayron station it was decided to take a inland route. The proposed route is to take the line back as far as Crossways where the line would diverge to the left possibly through Pennant depending on accesibility through the hills, before heading back towards the coast, this would probably still be a difficult route due to the terrain but is the best i can see. Once reaching the coast you arrive at Morfa Mawr station which is situated on a large flat area about half a mile from the seafront. The line will then follow the coastline through Llansanffraid and Llanrhystyd before heading inland to LLanddeiniol and on to Llanrhystd Road where it joins the Manchester & Milford Railway To Aberystwth. The line is single track with passing loops at all stations. Although not as busy as it's competitor the M&M railway, it would later see a slight upsurge in traffic when on 14th December 1964 heavy rain caused the River Ystwyth to flood near Llanilar and wash out a section of track which caused an unforseen closure of the M&M railway and probably saved the LA&NQLR from Beeching to carry on running for a few more years. Hopefully this gives an insight into the history and the route taken by the line. The dotted line between Morfa Mawr and Aberayron is the possible route the VoR rly may of taken had it been built ending in the Harbour area. The following three drawing of how the layout evolved from a test track to a scenic layout, this will probably explain why it has ended with an unusual track plan and possibly a bit unprototypical. The original test track showing a 5ft viewing area with a 2ft 6" sector plate Beyond the roadbridge the area has lost its sector plate and all became scenic, with a couple of sidings for a coal depot and small goods shed. The other side has lost a couple of sidings but received an extra track running alongside the main leading through a tunnel to the new fiddle yard. Their is no fiddle yard at the other end the layout just terminates at the level crossing. The private yard has received an extra siding and a new longish provender hut. The tunnel has gone in favour of a roadbridge while the roadbridge originaly half way along the layout has now gone and the hillside that runs along the rear of the layout has been rebuilt to suit the layout as it is now. The level crossing end still has no fiddle yard and one has to imagine it still carries on through to the North, a fiddle yard may be fitted at a later date. Some shots of the layout nearing completion The station building was built a few years ago from a couple of small images I had from an old magazine cuttings, along with some of the other buildings on the layout they were done for a previous layout which was never completed and has long since gone, It is loosely based on the station building at Aberaeron. Some photos taken on the Friday evening of the Cheltenham show before all the stock had been put on the layout, photos courtesy of Tiger Viking. And one from 37114 And finally the original layout flyer as I've now made the layout available for exhibitions

Hi Dave, A link was kindly posted earlier by "spamcan61" http://www.modelrail...opic=8591&st=60 look at the post by Manfred Ebinger who gave an excellent descripton on what needs doing. As i mentioned earlier on the first one i filed some off the face of the brass bearings on the side that butts up to the worm gear, this would give the shaft a bit of sideplay once fitted back in the gear tower. But since doing the first one i have since noted this is probably not actually the problem. As explained in the article the bearing has a small flat to stop it spinning, this flat should face upwards and it does need to fit snugly, otherwise it will push the bearing tight against the worm gear or force the shaft down causing the worm gear to be tight against the compoud gear. I'd suggest doing one first off the chassis to see what your doing, shouldn't be a problem for you but let us know if you do, if you still have a problem i'll try and get some phots done for you Trevor

I think on the first batch the corect placement of the bearings was the secret, the problem being some were not seated properly during assembly which caused binding and so overloading the motor. Not all were a problem and Bob-65b hopefully you've got a couple of good uns. Pete the first two i got had the bearing problem which i rectified and now they run as smoothly as the later ones i have. They do need a bit more umph to get them going, needing about "4" on my DC controller where as the later ones i have run at about "2". I don't know if this is down to a change of winding in the motor though, or if i damaged/overheated them from when i had the initial problem, but i do plan to change them eventually to Mashimi's which should be better again.

Thanks David, It is something i have tackled with excellent sucess, the first one i had filed the bearing faces as i thought their was a lack of endfloat, but by the second one i had realised, it was that the bearing were not seated properly in the housing causing everything to be a tight fit. Once rectified it is Sooooooooo much smoother Another thing i have done as i wasn't bothered with the lights, was to wire it the more taditional way and discarded the the PCB and cab interior, now it looks more like a Clayton cab with plenty of space inside. Cheers

Hi Chard, You may well of already seen it, but if you hav'nt get yourself a copy of "The South Wales Archive" from B & R Video Vol 120, it has a bout 15 minutes of footage from the Jim Clemens collection, following a class 14 around the Forest including such places as Coleford, Whitecliff, Bullo Pill and Cinderford. Pure bliss

I have to be in agreement with the others that the class 37 is in green livery, interesting how the picture shows three different green locos and all look to be different colours http://www.flickr.co...57614915738447/ also that the connecting rods are in unpainted steel which was Swindon's way of doing them, along with the class 03's they built, which were never painted red or yellow. Chromatic blue, now thats another subject that could roll on for ever Some nice shots around the Gloucestershire branches their Robert, also the one of D9508 on Ebbw Jnc http://www.flickr.co...57614915738447/ if i was ever to build a depot layout that would be the one for me, just crying out to be done by someone

Thanks PMP, I think you have nicely put it across what i was trying to explain and along with "spamcan61" s link to the modelrail forum, with the ill fitting bearings during construction explaining the problem. I too have been down the route with the two i have, explained by Manfred Ebinger on http://www.modelrail...opic=8591&st=60 and it does work, although i will probably end up fitting them with Mashimi motors, which will hopefully make them very smooth runners

I havn't any idea how many replacement chassis's have been produced or if any more are been made. It seems from reading through the threads that some retailers are on the ball and a lot more helpful than others, whilst others dont seem to know what is happening. Personaly i got two of my chassis's replaced, but i also purchased two others from the shows, which i have no details or proof of purchase and so unsure where to go about replacements

Don't know if it helps but Heljan asked their retailers early in the year, how many replacement chassis's they would require and they had a quantity produced to cover these requests and probabaly a few extra. If by chance shops only asked for a certain quantity or not responded at all (which some retailers didn't) this may possibly explain why they havn't got any.

Would be nice if you did, along with the 2mm version, plenty of us will want to be renumbering our D95'ers and as nothing else is the same font

Was wondering the same myself but I've heard nothing yet, so hopefully were not forgotten.

Havn't got MLI yet, but pehaps this Jim Binnie pic is the same shot http://diesel-image-gallery.fotopic.net/p62272255.html