SRman

Thanks Gary. I settled on the corner design for a few reasons, the main ones being that it was a good use of the available space while allowing me to retain some book shelves and storage on the other side of the room, and also keeping most of the layout narrow enough to be reachable from the front. Doug mounted it on the casters so that it could be wheeled out in the event that I need to get at something behind the layut in tunnel, although I have also left it open underneath so as to be able to reach in if needed. I can crawl under it occasionally but the design was intended to avoid the 'crawl-under' that had to be negotiated every time I wanted to operate my old layout. There are compromises, of course, so the curve radius is smaller than I would like but is still no less than third radius (approx. 20 inches) for the running lines, a little less on that siding I added. The upper level fiddle/storage yard will be fully scenicked as it will be visible to viewers and also reachable from the front of the layout. I had a call from Brian, the BRMA Victorian coordinator, yesterday, asking if I could host the August BRMA meeting, so if anyone is planning a visit to Melbourne around that time, drop me a line.

Thanks Doug. I haven't played much with those settings as yet. Since you and I have the same camera it makes the learning process a lot easier. Ahhh, bring back the days where everything was manually set - I knew what I was doing then and there was no 'intelligence' built in to the camera to override what I chose!!!!

I have resisted up to now but at that price it may be a little more tempting. It is still a fair amount of dollarpounds to spend on something that needs so much corrective work to its appearance (that front 'face' is definitely not right!). On the other hand, 99 pounds for a four-car motorised unit with a good finish is possibly reasonable value for money. ... Thinking out loud here but others may also benefit from my thought processes ...

Things have been a little quiet of late, due to minor illness - I get home from work and don't want to do anything else because of a cold hanging on. I have achieved a little more today though. I countersunk the fourth rail a little further on the first experimental bit I laid and it is now level with the tops of the running rails so is no longer causing any problems. I have now cut down and glued the retaining walls behind the station. They still need some work to blend in the joints between sections and then a bit of weathering and some top wall capping to complete them. I have also loose laid some more ballast. It is still a little light in colour but will look better once glued down and weathered a bit. It still looks a lot better than having no ballast at all! In the first two pics you can see how the retaining walls are before and after my mods; that to the right is in original condition. The top parapets that I have created are attached to the lifting section on the upper level and are not glued to the lower sections. Note also that I have now cleared some of the stock off the front temporary lines that still show the approximate alignment of the upper level tracks to come. Below, the overbridge and its supports are temporary place-holders only so these parts are still to be done in their final forms. As can be seen in the next photo, the shorter length of LT stock lends itself to models with sharper curves!

Sets of steps received today, with thanks, Robert.

A piece of wooden dowelling with a hook on the end. I use that method for reaching items that my arms cannot quite stretch to.

Yes, Albert's range was too valuable to we Southern modellers to lose forever. Thanks, Robert, for taking it on. Thanks also for fixing my gaffe in ordering earlier, too.

I think you have hit the nail on the head, there. Not only does this layout have atmosphere, it also has life. It suggests a living, breathing railway with a living, breathing population operating it. As always, keep up the good work, Peter.

Just ordered 5 pairs earlier today of the RT Models website. That should cover me for a while, although I own more Hornby Bulleids than that (five MNs, two unmodified WCs and three rebuilt WC/BoBs ... so far!).

Those front steps could be very useful to me as I have quite few Hornby Bulleids in all of the forms they have produced so far, and several of the front steps have gone AWOL over time. On the rebuilt WC/BoBs I have also managed to damage the rear pipe work. In fitting DCC decoders, I got the bodies off with no damage but lost bits when refitting the bodies on two of them - I was being ever so careful but still lost out (with much swearing in the process, too!). Is there any possibility of that being done in brass or copper? Is there any demand or am I the only clumsy so and so here?

I must say, there is rather a lot to be jealous of on this layout! Getting better and better all the time, Rick. Keep up the good work.

At long last, I'll have some more Underground trains to run on DCC. Spent several hours this afternoon soldering a TCS T1 decoder into my Harrow Models F stock driving motor coach, after receiving a second Black Beetle motor and fitting that with a home made plasticard adaptor arrangement. As I have already proved with the CO/CP stock, one decoder is perfectly able to cope with two Black Beetles. The operation took rather longer than I thought it would but it works perfectly on test. Simultaneously, I have been building and painting an F stock single-ended driving motor (unpowered) and I still have to build two (or three) centre trailers to make a four car (or later, a five car) unit. I am also going to do the same thing with the Q23 driving motor coach, likewise now with two Black Beetle motor bogies. The wiring will be less symmetrical in this one as I intend to hide the decoder in the end non-driving (guard's?) compartment. I have had this one running around on DC with its four other coaches (another Q23, a Q27, a Q31 and a Q38, to make a five car train) quite happily now for an hour or so. Will tackle the decoder fitting this evening. While all bar the original double-ended F stock motor are not yet glazed it is an encouraging development for me. With storage or running space for five LT trains, I can now (or, at least, after this evening!) muster four full and one half LT trains on DCC: the five car Q stock, five car CO/CP stock (with a sixth trailer still in its box), two out of four or five cars of F stock, and two LT pannier tanks with assorted wagons. Still to be converted to DCC are two motorised tube trains of 1938 stock (EFE). Still to be built are an A60 stock train of four cars, 2 x C69 trains of four cars (Little Bus Company and Fleetmaster kits), while still to be motorised is a four car 1959/62 tube train (EFE). Not all of these will fit on the layout at once but I am happy to be able to have a full roster on the LT lines whenever I want to now. However, until I get the high level tracks running, the LT lines will continue to host my main line stock as well. Photos showing the results so far: First two show one of two the Q23 motor driving coaches I have - this one is unpowered and the other has the two Black Beetles on board - and the 1938 CO/CP stock. The lack of glazing shows up badly here! These next two pics show all three passenger EMUs, Q stock at left with Q27 driving motor (unpowered) leading, Q27 trailer car next, then the powered Q23, followed by Q38 trailer and unpowered Q23 DM. The numbers refer to the nominal year the coaches were built. To the right, in the platform, are the two coaches of 1920 F stock, and on the right of the platform is are the two trains of 1938 CO/CP stock running in multiple to make a five car train.

... or play with the trains on the layout itself???

Thanks for the compliments, Peter, but the Kernow one does highlight the things that are wrong with my kit-build/conversion!! My lack of flush glazing on the sides sticks out, and the fuel tank area and lack of spoke wheels also seem rather obvious when they are side by side. Still, I am happy with what I have achieved ... just aware of shortcomings too.

They breed their men smaller in Cornwall!

As promised a few posts ago, here is my Dapol/Kernow weathered class 22, D6315, with my Silver Fox version in front. I have started weathering the Silver Fox one using the Kernow one as a guide.

Showing off the effect of the textured paint I purchased from Brunel Hobbies recently: this is the asphalt texture. It still needs a little more done to it to complete the platform surfaces but I quite like the effect. I intend to make a little skrawking tool to scrape some lines parallel to the platform edges, which will also facilitate painting the white edging (actually intended to be a light grey). While progress on the station has not been as quick as I would like, I am happy with the effects. The retaining walls are from International Models and will be cut to fit the locations properly - they are only propped there for effect at the moment. These shots also show off the latest arrival on my layout, a limited edition Dapol weathered class 22 from Kernow Models and my Silver Fox version on Bachmann class 20 chassis, which I have now started to weather to match the Kernow model.

My weathered D6315 has now arrived from Kernow Models and very nice it is too! I tested it briefly on DC then fitted a TCS 21-pin decoder and ran it in. It does have a little bit of gear whine, rather similar to ViTrains' classes 37 and 47 - not unpleasant but noisier than Hornby and Bachmann's similar mechs. I haven't tried it with any sort of load yet but I am absolutely convinced it will haul anything I choose to hang off the couplings! I note that the cab light at one end only comes on when function 1 is selected - a nice touch. I haven't fitted the headcodes yet so it looked a little odd with just the empty boxes illuminated and I will definitely paint over those horn apertures that seem to allow the light out. Encouraged by the weathering on the Dapol/Kernow item, I decided to start weathering my Silver Fox one as well with results, so far, that I am quite happy with, although not quite up to the professional standards of the Dapol one. I'll post a pic or two in the next day or so. One other thing though: I am more and more convinced the Silver Fox one looks more like the earlier converted locos rather than the later ones built from new with the headcode boxes, although it does have only two-piece centre doors on the front. I numbered it D6356 believing it to be one of the later ones so do I now renumber it or do I leave all my paintwork unscathed and leave well enough alone? EDIT: Function 2 operates the opposite end cab light.

Ahhh! Tim Hale, I had forgotten the St Petersburg models. Excellent quality and a good variety of types and eras, albeit, at a price. Definitely worth a look, though.

The 'hinged' effect on your valances looks very effective, Trevor. I was pondering doing something similar to my Kernow weathered 22 when it arrives; now you have shown what to do that makes it all the easier to do.

Adding slightly to my earlier post, I do recall seeing a couple of 1:43 scale resin kits although they were of more modern types. One was for a Marshall bodied Dennis Dart. They crop up occasionally on eBay.

There have not been many 1:43 scale buses available, either ready to run or in kit form. I do have a German Mercedes coach (probably 1980s) which is 1:43 scale but it was a dealer special so came in an unbranded box. I'll have alook at it to see if I can locate a manufacturer name - this could give a few leads to other models in your scale. You could consider a bit of perspective modelling - use a 1:50 scale bus towards the rear of your layout. Make sure no larger scale items are directly beside it.

This is great! Wonderful work there, Davy. It is also very good of you to share it with everyone. One small suggestion: if you can acquire any Bachmann SO coach you could try swapping the interior into the TSO of your CEP. I'm not sure if it will fit straight in or may need some modifications because of the electrics inside the CEP, but it should be reasonably easy.

Just buy 16 and pretend one has already gone for scrap!

Hornby did a 'tie-up' deal with Oxford Diecast before taking over the Corgi ranges (including the Trackside range). What this means is that Hornby and Oxford Diecast can release the same models but with livery variations. The R-B face shovel in the Hornby catalogue is in green with large 'SR' markings in white. I had a feeling I saw an advertisement for Oxford in one of the magazines that showed the SR one as well as GWR and LNER variants (and LMS too??). EDIT: Autocoach was correct and these are from Corgi's Track side range. The ad I saw was in February Hornby magazine and the green crane was plain green but the others were in GWR and LNER liveries, while the Hornby catalogue shows the same three PLUS the SR darker green face shovel. Apologies for any misinformation or disinformation in my earlier post.