Grimleygrid

Looking good Mark, I have to agree with Pete, the shot of 37422 does look really good. Would really like a model of that one too. Nice to see a 60 on the Alcan!

I have managed to make quite a bit of progress with the BBAs, the ends and buffers are now on and apart from some parts underneath they are ready for painting. Now comes the fun part of putting together the 46 bogies! Progress so far, not great quality photos but you get the idea:

Nice photos, can we have some more please!! The M.O.D. tank train looks rather nice. Excellent stuff.

Really like the look of your layout and especially like your planned stock. Can just imagine a 60 on the Murcos tanks trundling along and another one on some BS tipplers. Please keep the updates coming, great layout.

Lovely Grids! Excellent work on the Yellow Banana, wouldn't mind one of those myself. Hopefully Hornby will do one at some point.

After adding the name plates to 60081, I took the beast and the finished depot inspection platform to Grimley to take a few photos. I will post some photos up on my Grimley thread shortly. Further progress has been made on the BBA project, all 23 wagon bodies have been put together and apart from a bit of filling on a couple of them, I am nearly ready to start adding the ends and parts. Here they all are sitting on the kitchen table: I am hoping to start adding the ends later in the week.

I didn't know you could use two handsets with the basic system, I thought you needed the Pro-box to allow multiple controllers. Thanks for the info. Piemanlarger.

Hi Chris, Thanks for the info. on the bogies, I think I may have to get a couple of pairs of the S-kits ones to give a bit of variety. Not sure if they are blooms or billets?!! Last night I put together another three wagon bodies taking the total to 15. Only another 8 to go..........bought another kit the other day to make it up to a round 23! Hopefully over the weekend I can have all of the bodies together and start adding the bits and pieces.

Thanks for your views and thoughts Nigel. As I am not a member of a club it is difficult for me to test out a few systems so need to rely on those in the know with experience. The signals and points are controlled by a PC interface so I don??™t need to worry about that. I will have a look on Ebay to see what is around. To be honest I am not sure if it is better to just stick with the Dynamis system and put up with the 40 limit, which although can be limiting and also a pain if a loco not on the roster is required for running rather than looking into an alternative. Especially as I do not want to spend huge amounts of money on it at present. I was planning to get the Pro-box and another handset to allow two of us to drive at the same time. I just don??™t know??¦??¦.. Blimey Ron it seems this DCC is quite expensive??¦??¦.might have to ask Gordon for a loan if I decide to try another system!

I am looking forward to seeing the viaduct structure and scenery finished and a nice Tractor trundling over it! Great work Sir.

Agreed, wouldn't be the same Waverley West.

Thanks Nigel. I have been thinking of what the requirements are. After looking at the timetable that I have created for Grimley, it is possible to have three trains moving at once not including locos shunting in the depot. Being realistic, the maximum number of trains moving at once (not including the depot) is going to be four e.g. A Multiple Unit arriving on the Down Slow, HST passing through on the Down Fast, Voyager passing through on the Up Fast and a freight on the Up Slow. There are obviously other permutations etc. but I think the maximum main movements at any one time will be four trains which means four drivers and therefore four controllers. Being wireless is a great feature as this gets rid of the wires on the loft floor and enables the driver move with the train as it trundles around the layout. On the number of locos on the layout at any one time, having a limit of 40 is not a problem. For example, five DMUs, one HST, one Voyager, two freights and even say ten odd locos at the depot still leaves you well below the 40 limit. It would be nice however to have the ability to put a loco on the track without having to delete one from the roster and then add the new one. Not the end of the world though. Having quite a few locos on the layout does require more power and so I do need to purchase a booster. The other major factor to consider is the cost, as I already have one handset would it be cheaper to just add the Pro-box, booster, another handset etc. or switch to a comparable system which fits the bill? I don??™t know. Not being an expert on DCC I cannot really think of any other requirements. It may well be quite a while before I even attempt to run the Grimley timetable with four drivers. May need some drivers and a signalman! It would be nice to be able to have a drive of something at the same time as my eldest. Don??™t seem to get many goes at driving these days??¦??¦

Hi Simon, yes I think this should keep me quiet for a few weeks! Will then have to sort out some slabs to go on them. James, not sure if it is commitment or madness! Melly, as yet they have not produced the bogie in one-piece but believe they have plans to. Thanks Danny, I too am looking forward to seeing them finished and trundling around the layout. Although there is a lot of work to be done first??

Thanks for the information Craig. I too have the basic controller after realising that the only way to operate our layout realistically as per a prototypical timetable, DCC was the way forward. The idea of four wireless controllers was very appealing so that is why I went down the Dynamis road. Not sure what to do now. I suppose 40 locos on the layout at any one time is quite a lot but having to chop and change between them, programming etc. could be a potential pain in the backside. Although saying that I don??™t spend that much time playing these days! Still one day when I eventually do run the layout properly that will be the time to decide. Perhaps for the extra cost of the Pro-Box, that would be better value than starting from scratch. As I do not know the cost of other systems available, would this be economically the best option. Any thoughts?

I am planning to ask Father Christmas for a Pro-Box and so this discussion is very interesting. My understanding is that you can have 40 locos on the layout to control but how many decoders is it possible to have? Is that a maximum of 40? My problem is that with the standard Dynamis I have reached 40 but cannot program anymore chips? Sorry but my knowledge of DCC is very limited so apologise if I have not fully understood!

Superb Peter, as soon as I got the gen, went straight down to Llanbourne and managed to bash 693 all the way to Crewe!

Great photos, that really is a fantastic layout with stunning scenery. Superb modelling Peter. Can't believe it, I was at Peak Forest on the Monday just after! Would have loved to have seen it at Hazel Grove.

As the weather on Saturday was dry and sunny I took full advantage of this and gave 60081 a coat of varnish. Thanks to excellent service from Brian at Shawplan, the name plates arrived on Friday and these will be added later this week. Hopefully I will be able to take some photos of 081 at Grimley later in the week. Another train that I have wanted to model for a while, is the Scunthorpe to Lakenby slab workings. A couple of weeks ago I received a parcel from Barry at Cambrian and inside were 22 BBA kits. On Friday I made a start on my latest project and last night put four wagon bodies together.

Now that a few weeks have passed by and after visiting different sections of the new site I thought the time was right to try and get a Blog up and running. Not sure how they work but will give it a go! Since my last update on the old RMWeb I have finished weathering my rake of HAAs which are now back in service: Last weekend I managed to finish off painting and weathering the Peter Clark depot inspection platform and this is now ready for use in the depot. For a while I have been unhappy with the weathering on my model of GWR green 60081 so I decided a few weeks ago to remove it all and start again. After a couple of weeks the green machine is now ready for a coat of varnish. Hopefully some dry weather will arrive allowing me to finish this project and get her back in traffic.

I agree with the previous posts it is great to see Llanbourne again on RMWeb. Just wondering when we will see a Crewe built, high numbered Large Logo Grid on test? Or come to think of it 60001, 60002 or 60003 freshly out of Brush on test with your rake of HEAs!