SRman

A couple more shots from slightly different angles - these give more idea of the track and point alignments to come. These were taken last week. New progress shown below.

The 10 BILs in the videos look very impressive. Metadyneman's lighting also looks good. Trying to keep the light out of the cabs may take a little more work but it is also a 'feature' of my other Bachmann units, including the 2H shown earlier and the EPBs and CEPs.

Glenn, I haven't been going to Brian's place in recent times but it could be nice to go on the long weekend. I'll have to decide closer to the time, though.

I was expecting to have difficulties with the 8F chassis but I followed the very clear instructions and all went according to plan. I did have to file the resin chassis mounting and sandbox moulding at the back to get it to sit level but that wasn't too much of a problem. The biggest problem was getting the pressure on the front bogie right to get it to go around the tightest curves without derailing.

So that's why 90 mile beach has shrunk, is it??

I think the best source for that information would be Kernow Models themselves, although their website is not particularly helpful on that score right now. They do update their news section regularly and I feel sure they will advise delivery dates as soon as they get that info themselves.

Jack: the H16s weren't quite as imposing as the G16s but would still make a very nice, and desirable, model, especially in 7mm scale. I did fit sprung LSWR buffers from Markits. They are visible in a couple of later photos. Glenn: I tried a few different speakers, including two different sizes of bass reflex speakers, a bass enhanced one and a QSI hi-bass one and none sounded any better than the existing 40mm rectangular one fitted. However, I did replace the mounting with a fully enclosed and deeper chamber from another speaker in my collection, and that did improve the sound quality somewhat. I'm still convinced I can improve it further but that will involve a little more work, including soldering extra connections and fitting a smaller additional speaker to improve the treble end of the spectrum (eg for the turbo whistle) and also boring out the speaker opening in the chassis to allow more of the sound out. I am not after more volume (I turned it down to 90) but I am after the best quality output I can get. Having said all that, it's not bad at all but I think the 'chuffing' noise at idle is a little overdone. The irregular idle itself is well captured - something I always remember observing at Three Bridges station where the whole DMBS would vibrate in time to the drop in revs on each cycle.

Thanks Jack. I must finish the detailing work as it is already operational. A 7mm model will be a real beast - there is something about the larger scale that captures the mass of the stock much better than the smaller scales. I'll look forward to seeing that when you are done. Who knows: you are only a few hours away from here so maybe we'll get to meet up and compare G16s at some time in the future!!

Some great photos there Rick. Lovely work. I'm not too sure of my schedule for April 6th but will contact you soon.

Hi Glenn. The whole layout is on castors and has been wheeled out from the window and wall to allow me to work on it from behind. The 205 didn't run brilliantly on Frank's layout as it needed a tad more voltage. It runs very nicely on mine and I have posted a video in the DCC section, under sound videos. The camera work was a bit shaky as I was driving and filming simultaneously (Look Mum - I'm multi-tasking!!!!).

I have been laying cork underlay over the last couple of weekends for the hinged part of the upper fiddle yard. Having completed that yesterday, I started laying some track today. I have been cutting out small portions of cork (which I was careful NOT to glue down!) to fit around the point operating mechanisms and motors. These bits will eventually be attached to the points themselves to make the job of mounting the motors and wiring them and the microswitches and frogs. It will still be some time before trains are actually running on the upper level but this is progress! The photos show progress to date with four of the eight tracks pinned loosely and points positioned correctly, while the remaining four tracks are still to be done. There is a crossover in the middle between the innermost two tracks to allow for reversals of trains. The viewpoint of the second photo would be roughly what the local Vicar would see from hs church steeple!

Here's another one from me. This one is of the Kernow Models class 205 2H 'Thumper' unit, 1115. Also in the vid are a pair of Bachmann 2EPBs in multiple (consist). Apologies for the slightly shaky camera work. I was operating the camera with one hand and the trains with the other! I also pressed a few of the functions although the guard's bell and driver's buzzer at the start were actually unintended as I accidentally pressed F5!

Mine is still on its way here from Hattons but I almost wish the jumpers would fall off so I can more easily apply yellow panels to the fronts! I also received an email from Hattons saying the first batch of NRM BILs has arrived and already been pre-sold but that another batch is due soon and my pre-ordered unit will be in that delivery.

A couple of Vallium??

I only have one Western and, nice as the Dapol one is, I can't see me buying another. The existing one is a maroon Heljan 'Western Talisman', in which I have fitted Howes' sound. I modified the cab roof shape with nothing more fancy than a needle file, repainted and weathered the roof area and am content with that. The Heljan model runs superbly and looks the part, to me.

I have also removed the 'peak' on a Heljan one, simply with a file. There is sufficient 'meat' in the cab roof moulding to allow it to be filed to shape while leaving the horn cover untouched. All that was needed after that was to repaint the cab roofs and weather the entire roof.

It's very hard to generate smoke when the engine has stopped!!!! That's actually quite an interesting observation, D605.

There is a picture on page 35 in Streets of Brighton (Glyn Kraemer-Johnson & John Bishop, 2004, Ian Allan Publishing) of 4472 Flying Scotsman leaving Brighton on an excursion in the 1960s and the first coach is a Bulleid semi-open brake second complete with crest. The second coach is a maroon Mk1 second. While certainly not common for Bulleids to have the crest, it proves that there is a prototype for just about everything!

I also had an email advising that they were in and ready to ship but an extra nice touch was that Sam (from Kernow) asked if it was alright to debit my credit card. That's very considerate of them because we don't always know when the costs of pre-orders are going to 'hit'. Much appreciated, Kernow Models and staff! Well done.

The BILs and SUBs were compatible electrically and brake-wise, so no modifications would have been necessary, but they would never normally have run together in service because they were designated for different types of services on different routes.

I agree! I have been posting a few pic of progress on my even more incomplete layout. People (me!!) want to see what others are up to, completed or not. ... and yours looks to be quite scenic and complete enough to impress anyway. Of course you can see all the faults 'cos you know they are there, Jim, but the rest of us are not looking for them.

Yes, I noticed that too. I think they just made an error in the captions.

From memory, Chelsfield station itself wouldn't be that hard to model; a simple two platform through station in a bit of a cutting with long pedestrian access ramps and not too many buildings. Third rail on straight track is not too bad to lay ... it's when you get to the bendy bits it becomes a real pain to lay without the third rail chairs shooting off into the wild blue yonder when one lets go of the rail end accidentally! I used to live and go to school in third rail territory, many moons ago. Now I'm almost as far away as I could get, in Melbourne, Australia!

I have the orange V one with sound on order - it sounds very promising, even with the limitations of YouTube and the garage environment. p.s. We'll convert you yet, Rick!

Is that a hybrid Lima 31 chassis with Hornby works, or summat like that??