birdbath

Morning all. The latest arrival on Guide Dog Bridge is the Cavalex class 56. I'll happily join the list of people praising this model. Looks the part, well designed, sounds great, performs great. An excellent addition to the new generation of models that have appeared in the last year or two. The vast improvement in standards also pushes the more established mainstream brands to up their game as well. Great work @RBE, I look forward to the 60. I went for the RF grey version. Suits them well to my eye. Better than the red stripe version with the smaller arrows. Just a personal view. The only changes I've made are using JMRI to tweak the sound project to my taste. Other than that, a light weathering as per my usual techniques and it's done. There's something very pleasing about firing it up and just having it idling away in the background. Seen here waiting to leave the stabling siding, whilst a 60 runs onto the maintenance shed. Stretching time frames by a few years, a tired old 'peak' runs past on a Speedlink working in the background. Cheers, Roge.

Cheers Rich. Kind words, as always. I’m currently being distracted by building some 3D printed 009 Ffestiniog coaches for a friend. First time I’ve worked with this form in any real substance, so it’s a bit if a learning curve. The possibilities are mind-bending though. And I still wonder what on earth to do with my 7mm class 60. But that’s another story! What was I thinking?! 😩 Roge.

Morning all. I've been meaning to put something on here for ages, but never quite got round to it till now. The completion of a couple of loco projects has finally spurred me on though. First up is this Heljan 45/1. Slightly out of period, but I do have memories seeing these on their last legs around Leicester in the late 80s. They always seemed to look so much more antiquated than other locos of the period, which possibly made them more exotic! Anyway, taking inspiration from @richard w on his amazing Everard Junction, I took the plunge and repainted the blue livery. It's a slightly lighter and faded shade. Worth doing I think. Transfers from @railtec-models as 45115 'Apollo'. I've weathered and faded it quite heavily, which hopefully reflects the tired appearance of these locos towards the end of their careers. Fitted with Loksound V5 and EM1 speaker. Despite much comment on here regarding the accuracy of this model vs the Bachmann offering, etc, etc, I'm happy with it. For me it captures the lumbering feel of the real thing, whatever the perceived shortcomings may be. Passing slightly more modern Sulzer power. And onwards past the pilot and signal box. (An interior for the 'box is on the list) The other recent purchase is my first @Accurascale 37. This really is a fantastic model. I've got two more on order and I suspect they won't be the last. The only changes I've made are to rework the roof panel hinges. If I had one criticism, I'd say they are too pronounced, looking more like handrails. My solution was to remove them and re-make with small brass strip and nickel silver wire, with the intention being to 'set them into' the roof a bit more. I'm quite happy with the result. Other than that I had a slight issue with making the DCC lighting function work to my taste. A bit of trial and error and help from @RailsOfSheffield and @Accurascale sorted this out. Nothing physically wrong with the loco, I just needed to have the six manual switches in a different configuration to get true independent lighting control. Can't remember now what it was, but I can dig it out if anyone is interested. The loco is the standard factory sound fitted version. A partial roof repaint after the hinge replacement and light weathering have finished it off. Really pleased with this one. Ambling out of the yard. Passing the back of the shed with a ballast. 47 in the head shunt and 20s waiting the road to cross over into the yard. That's it for now. Maybe more modelling updates over the winter. But let's face it, probably not! Roge.

Evening everyone. A plea for help from a friend who's not on here... He's after 4mm scale drawings of classes 315, 317 and 321 units. There's a book titled 'Overhead EMUs volume 1, Classes 302 to 306. Apparently volume 2 will contain the desired classes. The author is Dave Hulls. Has anyone got access to this volume? Or can anyone point us in the right direction for these drawings from another source? Any help gratefully received. Roge.

Just an update on this, for anyone interested in messing around with the DCC lighting settings. After much exchanging of emails with Simon at Accurascale and Shane at Rails of Sheffield, I finally stumbled across the solution. Despite what the card in the box advises, if you set the DIP switches to 1,3,5,6 ON and 2,4 OFF, you can program all lighting functions completely independently. This also works fine for programming 'on the main'. Whilst this is possibly all a bit too niche for most people, it might just help wierdos like myself who can't help but make changes! Cheers, Roge.

Yeah, that was the fall back position! just wondered if there was anything obvious I was missing. at least a reset will prove it isn’t anything physical which has gone wrong. cheers.

Hi everyone. Forgive me if this has been covered before... I've been tinkering around setting up the DCC lighting functions on my sound-fitted 37026. Just changing the function numbers that are assigned to various lighting features, that sort of thing. Now I find that all the lighting has stopped working, even the bits I haven't changed. I've been using JMRI software to do this, programming on the main. I've also tried the same via the programming track. Never had any issues doing this before with other Loksound V5 and V4 fitted locos. Any suggestions what I've done to upset it? Cheers, Roge.

Thanks for this.

Hello again people. A few more random shots of some different stock. 1. Here's 31449 passing by with a scratch rake of mk1 stock. 'Super Sprinter' 156 heads the other way. 37046 has just arrived for fuel. The 31 is a repainted Hornby model, with modified lighting. This was a right pain to do! The 37 is a standard Bachmann effort, with the orange cantrail line added. The 156 is the recent Realtrack model. 2. The 37 has now moved over to the shed road to stable. A parcels 47 heads past the signal box on a van train. 3. And finally, 'modern image corner'! I need to have a word with myself about this unhealthy habit! 68027 and 68034 are obviously Dapol models. 027 has had some quite significant paintwork changes, as I couldn't live with the manufacturer's rendition of the colours on the TPE livery. It took ages to try and mix up something that, to my eye, was a bit more faithful. Not perfect, but I'm pleased with it overall. It'll be interesting to see what the colour is like on the Accurascale Mk5a coaches when they appear. Wouldn't blame them for matching the Dapol loco to be honest. 66762 is a Hattons model, with the 'Europorte' logos carefully removed from the GBRf livery. Next project on the go is to get on with my Heljan 45. Cheers, Roge.

Thanks for your comments guys. There’s only so many angles you can photograph the layout from. I use a DSLR on a tripod, then convert the files to JPEGs on the computer. I’ve thought about getting one of those strange looking mini tripod things for my phone. But the camera on it just doesn’t give the depth of field. Open to suggestion on this topic though. cheers, Roge.

Hope everyone has had a pleasant Christmas. Here's some photos of a recent trip to GDB. 1. 60006 and 47474 await their next duties, whilst 56091 undergoes an exam in the shed. 2. The pair of 20s have reversed their short steel train into the depot to collect empty fuel tanks. 31449 runs onto the fuel point and the 09 idles away waiting the next move. 3. 75014 passes, tender-first, on the main line with a rail tour. (Hornby model, renumbered with Railtec products, including 3D smokebox number plate) 37422 has just arrived onto the depot with an inspection saloon. That parcels 47 is still sat around! Cheers, Roge.

Evening everyone. Here's a few general overview shots to give a feel for the layout. 1. Looking from the doorway. 2. The depot area. 3. Looking the other way. 4. A bit more detail. 5. The opposite site. 6. The storage yard end, with work bench under. Hope this makes it a bit clearer for anyone showing an interest. I'll try and do some more pics of locos and stock soon. Cheers. Roge.

Morning all, I hope you're all looking forward to seeing what model trains Santa has brought you! (and then hiding the acute disappointment when you actually receive yet another 'Great trains in colour' type book from well meaning relatives who 'know he likes trains'!) Rich suggests reposting some of the lost images, which I like as it's an easy win. I hope these are of some benefit. Here's the trackplan. (produced in AnyRail) And the JMRI panel. Probably best to read the initial description over the first few posts to make sense of it. I'll take some up-to-date overview shots and post them too. Cheers, Roge.

Hi Rich, Nothing much to report. A few small rolling stock projects and jobs for friends. I'll try and upload some pics now you've prompted me. If I'm honest, the loss of the old pics on here and the constant pestering by pop-up ads has taken some of the attraction away. No one's fault, just how it is. Cheers, Roge.

Morning all, Here's a couple of pics of the completed 60. Pictures of them in their early days seem to suggest the bodysides kept reasonably clean, whilst the underframes were as dirty as any other class. So that's what I've tried to replicate. The renumbering and naming was done using Railtec transfers, whilst the cast arrows were from Nairnshire model supplies, via a eBay. Nothing much else done cosmetically, other than painting the components of the number one (fan) end in cream. This can clearly be seen through the grilles and I think is worth doing. Cheers, Roge.

Hi everyone, I've been tinkering with a Hornby class 60. This is the quite recent release of 60015. Having suffered from Hornby's rather odd 'DCC unfriendly' wiring before, I was pleasantly surprised to see this loco coming with an updated lighting board where the positive is common. I still opted to dispense with the original PCB and make (bodge!) a replacement. The aim was for independent lighting control, reasonable sound quality and still be able to take the body off if needed. I've ended up using a LaisDCC 21 pin socket, a Loksound 5 sound decoder with @legomanbiffo project and a combination of the supplied sugar cube and an EM1 speaker. I made up small boards to go on the rear of each cab interior. These have the resistors for Day Head/Marker, Night Head/Marker and reds and are then wired back to the DCC socket solder tabs. The socket sits in the body roof and is then connected to the chassis using a small plug/socket arrangement. A small amount of milling work was required to fit the EM1, thanks to @Rick_Skateboard for this. The sugar cube is grafted into the plastic moulding of the cooler group end. All the hardware was supplied by @Richard Croft at Roads and Rails. Helpful advice and rapid delivery always appreciated from Richard. Please excuse the poor quality pics from the phone. It all seems to work and has been an enjoyable little project. The loco will be finished as an almost new 60006 'Great Gable', which I remember being very impressed with as a kid at Leicester open day back in 1992! Where does the time go? Hope this is of some interest. More pics to follow when it's finished. The GBRf 66 might also make an appearance. Cheers, Roge.

Yes. It’s brilliant. You need to take early retirement and finish it off!

Evening all. Well, onto a sixth page. This level of social media interaction surely puts me in league with TikTok trainspotting sensation Francis Bourgeois?! (Is that guy for real?) Anyway, following on from the green 47 is this Bachmann 40 for the same friend. It's one of the earlier examples and as such doesn't have lighting. It also boasts a rather large gap between the body and the bogies, which I think was improved on later versions. Anyway, the brief was a simple renumber, detail and weathering. Whilst I had it, the owner's son asked me to fit sound as a surprise Christmas present for his dad. (I don't think he's on here, so hopefully secrecy is maintained and Christmas isn't ruined!) Son was also able to assist by milling a chunk of chassis block away to accommodate a 21x21x7 bass speaker from Roads & Rails of Leeds. Richard is always extremely helpful about all matters DCC sound and also very quick on delivery. Happy customer. The decoder is a Loksound v5, with @legomanbiffo sound as usual. Lovely sounds and I'll miss it whistling away to itself on the depot. And finally, just to give @Mol_PMB a laugh, my 'current scene' filthy habit has struck again... Is it possible to get therapy for this kind of problem? The Hattons 66 really is a fantastic model. The much commented on issues regarding the rotating axle ends proved to be quite easy to put right. I imagine a future production run would probably make a couple of adjustments to sort the issue. It runs very sweetly with the Loksound V5 and @legomanbiffo project booming out of the EM2 speaker. There's a slight distortion at the lower frequencies, but this doesn't really detract. The functionality and play value is fantastic. The only changes I've made cosmetically so far is to remove the Europorte branding. At some point I'll take the plunge and weather it. Regards, Roge.

One day you'll get round to that small affair in the garage you were progressing...

Very kind of you to say so! Again, sorry for the delayed reply. Some issues with notifications to look into... I can't remember whether my original description mentions it, but the curves have a slight transition from the straights onto the tightest part of the radius. I did this by splitting them up into three parts on AnyRail, then joining all the bits together. I do think it's worth the extra effort on scenic sections and it doesn't add much room. I suspect you can also 'hide' quite sharp radius curves by having the track ease into them from a straight. Just a bit of visual trickery really. Hope this makes sense. Roge.

Hi there David, Thanks for your comments and I'm glad my ramblings have been of some use. Sorry it's taken a while to respond. Notifications on here seem a bit sporadic; sometimes I get them, sometimes I don't. I'll try and look into this. As @Mol_PMB has commented above, there's some benefit to keeping things simple. GDB is never going to be particularly captivating to operate for long sessions. But to be honest it keeps me happy for the odd spare hour. I get most enjoyment from tinkering about with rolling stock projects, so as much as anything it gives a half decent test track to run them round on. As I type this now, I glance up and see a pair of 20s trundling past with a ballast working whilst a 47 splutters into life outside the shed! I guess it all depends on what you want to get out of a layout and how much time you can devote to it. I'm sure we all aspire to do what Simon George has done with Heaton Lodge, but I'm realistic in my expectations! All the best with your venture. Roge.

Very funny….. All this modern image rubbish doesn’t make me a bad person!

Hi Rich. Thanks for the kind words. Unfortunately there’s no progress to report. GDB has been under its dust sheets for ages. I’m half way through doing a green 40 to go with the green 47, but even that has now stalled due to new job commitments. Things will settle down soon and I’m sure I’ll have a bit more time for it again. Cheers, Roge.

Evening all. Not much to report lately other than a couple of short loco projects. I can't seem to get motivated with the layout at the moment. Suppose we all go through phases like this. Anyway, first up is another 68. This time the DRS compass 034. I couldn't really resist this one as it's the obvious complement to my existing 68027, being one of the two TPE 'spare' pool engines. This has just had the panel lines added with a fine pen (same as 027) and a light weathering. I'm usually quite strict in observing my chosen era and vague area, but occasionally it just goes out the window. Here's 034 on an engineer's train, passing 'Splendid' heading light from Longsight to Gresty for exam. Swinging back the other way in timescale, I've also just finished this Heljan 47 for a friend. It's been numbered as D1739 using Railtec transfers and had a small amount of painting done to alter the way the factory had applied the yellow panels. Detailing to the buffer beams and a light weathering to finish. My 'client' provided a couple of photos of his preferred weathered finish, so fingers crossed it meets with approval. On the other hand, success might lead to having to do his other locos! This is the first time I've had one of these on the layout. It seems to run quite smoothly, but needs a good boot of throttle to start it moving. I also notice how low the boiler water tank/battery box between the bogies sits. It won't make it past the fuelling point! That's all for now. More updates when enthusiasm makes a comeback. Roge.

Afternoon all. A little project I've been fiddling about with lately. Dapol's interpretation of the blue colours on the TPE livery 68 has never really satisfied me. In the end I decided to have a go at a partial repaint. The elements tackled are the blue round the windscreen and cab side windows and the dark blue-sky blue faded band from the lower cab front to the cantrail heading towards the middle of the body. Initially I mixed up a few sample efforts to take to work and hold against the real thing. Humbrol 52, Railmatch silver and Humbrol metalcote are used for the windscreen surround, while the same plus Humbrol 222 were used for the various bits of the faded band. Once I'd got matches I was happy with I masked the body up and took the plunge. It all took a little while to do in several stages. When done, a bit of touching up was needed in a couple of places and then the panel line details were picked out with a fine black pen. The loco had already been renumbered and named using Railtec transfers and I managed to save those. Light weathering has been added to the upper body sides, where they always seem to get a bit of dark streaking and the underframe got another going over too. It's by no means perfect, but overall I'm happy with the result. Back to the 1990s soon! Regards, Roge.