SNCF stephen

My wife actually got me back into the hobby. I used to visit her house where her dad left Model Rail magazines lieing around which were promptly devoured and then I slowly got back into the hobby. It has taken me until fairly recently to get my confidence together to tell my work colleagues about my hobby. I always thought there would be a stigma attached to the hobby but they were keen to know more and impressed by my own models.

Superb work with the brick paper. I have used it myself on a large retaining wall for the same reason. You get the added benefit of it looking exactly like the real thing.

I have to say I am just blown away by this topic. Each post gets better and better and this one came at just the right time as I was wondering what to do about the roof felt on one of my projects. This topic could be in the dictionary definition of inspiration! Thanks

I really like this topic and it is interesting to see the views about tail chasers and how much space they take up. One of the reasons I model in N is that I can have a loop and do more with the space I have. My layout room is nowhere near the Hornby TYPICAL layout room and it has to share that room with other stuff (a desktop computer, several bookshelves, guitars/amplifiers/guitar pedals etc) added to that the room is compromised by the fact that the pitch of the roof slices through about half of the room so space is at a real premium. I appreciate I am lucky to have a dedicated space to have a layout but I often think that there needs to be thought given to people who have to put their layouts away. Well done with the layout. Stephen

X2200 Autorail I have started work on a new N Gauge project in the past few months. KintburyJon very kindly obtained a resin body for me which represents an X2200. It needs a fair bit of work to make it look good but I have made some good progress. When I got the body it looked like this: (To the right of the image in the blue livery) For some reason the previous owner had painted it without primer and used some sort of emulsion which was pretty bad. So I had to strip it all down by scraping it off and obtain a chassis from Japan. I added some small strips of Plastciard inside the body so the body would sit nicely on the chassis. I then had to fit a DCC 6 Pin socket to the chassis which was quite easy because the two metal strips connecting the motor to the pickups are easy to move up and isolate. Having a socket installed also means I can change the chip easily. And voila: It needs a coat of primer and then it will be painted up into the basic TER livery and number 2208. I intend to fit the underframe details where possible and add buffers. DU65 Draisine - New Painted version and DCC Fitting. I have also been working on painting another 3D print of the DU65 Draisine. This version has one of the folding sides in the down position and does not have a bonnet or pneumatic lifting arm installed. I hand painted it because the windows were too difficult to mask off and they could not be drilled out. It looks pretty reasonable but I know I can do better (plus I am not convinced the colour is right...). I also got around to adding glazing to the original version that I painted up some time ago: And I thought you may be interested in seeing the small chassis with the DCC chip installed! It was surprisingly easy and is not a bad runner. It needs the track to be clean and it could do with some more weight but it runs well at scale speed (although not quite as slow as I would like. Thanks for reading, as always if you have any comments or questions please feel free to contribute. Stephen

It was twenty years ago today I was probably going stir crazy for Christmas. This was a usual thing for me being 8 years old and Christmas being the main part of the kid calendar but twenty years ago was special because on Christmas day I got my first proper train set. I had a few bits and pieces of Hornby OO before but they were my dads and brothers. This was going to be mine and more importantly it was going to be N.. Unknown to me, my dad had been sawing away making baseboards out of chip board for a while and he had been regularly visiting Dave at Manor Models in Telford (now gone I think). Therefore when I opened my first piece of Peco N gauge flexi track I knew it was going to be a good day! In all (if my memory serves me correctly) I got: 10 Assorted wagons including an old Lima Brake Van. 1 Graham Farish MK3 Intercity TS carriage 1 Graham Farish 08 Shunter Even at my young age it seemed like an odd mix but there was logic in that it was affordable and would give me enough stock to tide me over to my birthday (where I was getting a class 47 and some ore MK3s). I still have the 08 shunter and the carriage that was purchased for me that Christmas. I doubt they will ever be used in regular service again but they hold a special place in my heart because they were my first trains. Thanks for reading the blog this year - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for 2013.

Superb stuff. T gauge lends itself very well to impressive landscapes. I look forward to seeing how it goes!

It is understandable that there are days when there is not much to show despite working hard. Even though you do not have a lot to show it is always good to see pictures of your layout. So with Christmas around the corner do you think there are any items of rolling stock that you will get?

I am intrigued by this system and I think the key issue as to whether I make the upgrade is whether it is easy to use or not, especially for some of the more complex bits and pieces. I will be interested to hear any views from RMwebbers who get a system over the coming months as it could encourage me to go all DCC as opposed to just DCC on the locos.

Superb work on this module. It really looks very cold and I feel sorry for the lorry driver. Seeing modules like this makes me want to do a winter module on my layout.

I can only echo everyone else's comments about the layout in that it looks great. What an interesting prototype too! I hope to see some more pictures when it comes out next year. Stephen

The last UFO report I did was in January so I guess it is worth updating what has happened and what projects are on the work bench at the moment (incidentally I need a new work bench as well...). A few completions have been made to the Autorail fleet. Starting with the X3900: This Autorail now has a DCC chip installed on the Tomix Chassis, I used a 6 pin decoder socket so that if a sound unit becomes available then it can be installed later. I have also completed the X5800 and the X5600 (FNC): These Autorails have both been converted to DCC but I think that the FNC will be problematic on the track work as it has a short wheel base. One solution I am considering is running them as a permanently coupled pair. There are also a few works in progress. Starting with the ADX: The chassis has been extended from a Tomix TM08 and has a DCC chip installed with a 6 pin socket. There is a sound module that I have my eye on but at £100 it is eye wateringly expensive. This needs painting, the details need adding and then it needs glazing. I need to get a small part for my airbrush to get this one sorted. Next month will see work progress on this (I hope). The X2400: A bit of a step back with this in that the primer is not that well applied and a new chassis needs to be converted from a Tomix one. The X2800 fleet: I now have 3 X2800 units in various stages of completion. The older style unrefurbished version just requires painting and glazing. The refurbished resin shell needs to be given a coat of primer and then painted + glazed. The brass model needs starting, however it looks like it could be quite a challenge so I will start that once the ADX is completed. All three require a new chassis and I expect to convert Tomix chassis' for the job since they are easy to convert to DCC as well as extend in size. Added to this, I find them reliable and relatively quiet in operation. Some newer projects have commenced but need a fair bit of work: X2200: This is a resin shell, very kindly obtained by Kintbury Jon for me. I am going to paint it in the modern blue and grey TER livery and make some bespoke transfers for the Limousin region. I am really looking forward to getting this one done and it might be one of the big priorities for the next few months. A few DU65 Draisines: I wanted to have a few of the DU65 Draisines made up and looking nice so I can run them around the layout. I am hand painting them which will be tricky but hopefully they will look ok. So that is the UFO report, here are some of my recent purchases for the layout: The 72000 is to replace the older versions of this loco that I am getting rid of as they are just too difficult to convert to DCC. This version is made by Minitrix and is numbered 72073 in the spaghetti logo blue livery. It is a lovely model with nice features including NEM couplers. The 67000 is a Minitrix model too and it helps to close a gap in my loco fleet for this particular location. Just before I finish this post here is a quick picture of part of the main module of the layout: Over the past two weeks I have been raising the terrain around the edge of the unitrack to make it look better as well as starting work on ballasting it. Before that I added the island platform and stuck the platform sides in place. It is coming together quite nicely (it even has a small patch of grass on it now...).

Those Piko 66000s are lovelly. I have two myself. I do find that with the Dapol Couplers that they snag on the pointwork due to the NEM socket being a bit too low. Let me know how you get on with that loco and shunting as I have yet to give my fleet a proper shunt.

Superb work there, I am intrigued by your use of Fairy Power Spray as I need to strip down a resin shell at some point soon so I am guessing it would be more suitable than a solvent based option...

I am currently having a think about having a go at my SNCF version of the Fleischmann BR55 in N Gauge. There is a German guide (translated here http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http://www.mtkb.de/Umbau/Fl_br55.htm ) but due to the rough nature of the translation I am a tad confused and would rather get it right than jump in and have a go and then wreck it. Any help would be really useful. Cheers Stephen