Matloughe

Good Morning All! How are you all? Have you had a good time since my last update? I can only apologise for the delay in updates this has been caused by a number of items - firstly I felt rather disheartened about the state of that signalbox kit I built so decided to have some time away - as well as I noticed the board has got an ever so slight bananna curve in it which caused me to pause for thought about it all. So I had a break away from model railways with some of the following activities: World in Flames Board game, World War 2 on the table for a weekend - the map for this is three feet by four feet with another two A3 sized play aids! I did also tidy up the garage and for the first time since 2017; the old boards for Devils Dyke have been assembled and bolted together for some work to be done on them. Currently the plan being banded about in my mind is to take it back to bare boards and refurbish them and work on a plan mirror to 'The art of Compromise' on these boards - but that is a medium length plan, you can also see my £5 bargain of a 6'x2'6" laser cut board kit and legs bought on Facebook Marketplace this also has an additional section bolted to it taking it to over 8' in length. This board will either form the basis of an O Gauge BLT or potentially an N Gauge NSE roundy-roundy but that is more long-term planning. As for this layout I have aquired several wagons for the layout: Top to Bottom Left to Right: UK Train Sim - the website is closing, and I remembered they had a custom wagon so I had to grab one before it fades forever especially as I don't have one that shape. SR (exLBSC) Guards Van - this is going to be repainted into LBSC livery with new metal wheels being provided. Bestwood - this is mentioned in the Sheffield Park freight logs so I had to grab it. GE Van - this is also in the Sheffield Park freight logs and as its another pre-grouping wagon I had to have it. At the same time I bought "Bestwood" and the SR Guards van I also bought for £2- an old Hornby R500 Platform Shelter Its not much of a looker is it... how about after a repaint: Ahh thats better, after an encounter with some specific colours it looks much better in its LB&SCR colour scheme; the camera makes the paint job look messy but at a normal distance it looks fine! Oh yes... I might've bought a new locomotive as well. #umberlicious Cheerio all!

I don't know about spoiling the bobby. I've been having a relaxing evening listening to @BlueLightning's stream and cutting out the windows of the Signalbox - is the kit a faff, yes, yes it is. Is it an 'advanced' difficulty? - Probably not, its very fiddly and I havent got it right - but equally the instructions don't say to remove the signalbox door apeture from the bodyshell its just a photo of it missing and I didn't pay attention to it so havent done it. I would probably say its easier to print onto sticker paper as the instructions suggest rather than print onto thin card as I have done here. As you can see - its together; I'm not happy with it - by missing taking out the door and now progressing beyond that stage is difficult. I think I am going to chalk this up to experience and continue this as a 'placeholder' for now the card has certainly dulled my knife blade which hasn't helped much! I am going to call it here tonight I think. Going forwards I am still waiting for my platform shelter to be delivered and my PO wagon for the layout; that will most likely be the next update as I am going to leave the signalbox here for now and return to it down the line as it were - pun intended! Its rough; i'm not happy with it. But it's part of the process. I also broke the window frame when cutting the last pane of glass! 😒 Have a good evening all! Gary

Have I started it - yes! Do I wish I hadn't - yes! Have I found my patience? - No, not yet! Only small progress was made last night; the outer shell of the building is glued together - and awaiting the addition of the cosmetic external brickwork and additional details. Sadly I havent got any glazing material for this currently - so either it waits for that or I build it unglazed - like the station shelter has no glazing. I've already made mistakes building this kit so I will plough on even if it just gets used as a 'placeholder' for a different building or a rebuilt building. Aside from the cost of the pdf kit; which was under £5 when I bought it several years ago - the greyboard card was saved from Royal Mail 'unbendable' envelopes the print was a test of the printer at work so cost nothing, and I bought some Bostick glue. So I should probably be a bit more lenient with myself on this one. Have fun everyone! Gary

Good Evening All! An unscheduled update as tonight is my Partner's choir night; coupled with a #2 child deciding she was tired and wanted to go to bed at 7pm resulted in commandeering the dining table for some Brighton Time! So wrapping up from last time; I have spent this months modelling budget on some items from Scale Model Scenery - some full width platform ramps as well as some platform sections to extend the overall length of the platform and finally a lovely barrow crossing. I'm not sponsored by SMS I have just found their products useful for a base to build upon. I have also in the interim painted the sleepers on the layout a mid-brown colour from the Citadel Paint range from Games Workshop. So this evening starts at the new board crossing at the end of the platform - this allows the signalman a safe route to cross the line to his signalbox which will be located on the left-hand side of this picture - at the time period involved labour was cheap and there is photographics evidence of board crossings being immaculately maintained so I didn't want a scruffy crossing. These parts have been painted and have been stuck to the board with bog-standard PVA. The platform itself is now three flat sections and two ramps but I am unsure if it is too long for the layout itself. So this is the full-length platform with the train stabled within the three flat sections with the front of the locomotive at the very nearest end of the flat section of platform before it transitions to the flat section of ramp. Also as you can see here - the different colour of the board crossing and freight platform in the background painted and in place currently. Signalbox location would be where the Citadel paint tin is currently located in this photo. In this photo the rear of the train has been drawn up level to the rear of the second flat piece of platform - showing it is (just) possible to accomodate a three-coach faux Stroudley set in the shorter platform but the locomotive does hang off the end and foul the crossing. I am leaning towards the platform being longer rather than shorter myself - but am interested to hear others opinions. Although the opinion given to me by my Partner of running a 2-coach train wasn't well recieved! 😁 I have managed to obtain a Hornby R510 Platform Shelter for the princely sum of £3! This will be painted up into LBSC Colours and act as the platform building for passengers - I might also add a small shed or some such on the platform to act as a lock-up. I couldn't bring myself to remove the decals put onto my own one by myself and my Nan all those years ago! It will give me to opportunity to practise some painting. I have also given thought to operating the layout from either end or indeed as a 'through' with a fiddlestick at each end which might be interesting. I have also printed off my Scalescenes Platform parts and am going to clad these SMS platforms with Brick Paper/Card after they are finished gluing and are firmly located in place. As for the last item on my list of updates - I have alluded to it once or twice: I need to find my patience - as it looks like I will need it! This pdf kit has been sitting on my Google Drive for quite some time awaiting printing. I just need some glazing and I can make a start on it. I've also managed to grab a Hornby Open Wagon from one of the specific Coal Merchants mentioned in the Sheffield Park freight accounts which is fantastic! My Stock of pre-grouping grows on with the GER Van arriving and a Southern Liveried LBSC Brake Van (secondhand) on their way with the platform building. Stay Safe! Gary

Oh believe me I am tempted! I have a small 80cm x 20cm board with a failed N Gauge project on it with a 40cm x 10cm fiddlestick already painted & primered - I'd just need to change the track for some H0m & sort out some sort of motive power! I'm certainly going to go away and ponder on what I could fit in that space which would be IoM related. Loving the photos on here & the FB group. Cheers, Gary

I just wanted to say, I've read this thread from beginning to end and love it! Keep up the good work; you've inspired me to nab a wagon kit and Oxford Rail Peacock - but I am still hovering on the edge of taking a dip with 00n3! Can't wait to see more. Gary

So speaking on Wagons more broadly, Information I have extrapolated previously I've fed into a spreadsheet and tweaked it - I am only showing a portion of it here but this is the broad breakdown of wagons that arrived in the given Timeperiod at Sheffield Park, just over 90% of the wagons were LBSCR owned and this is the breakdown of type. I am making some broad assumptions here that a Merchandise Wagon is a 4/5 Plank, whereas a sheet wagon would be more like an Open D with a rail fitted - these together make up the majority of all wagons arriving, with very few from other companies in these categories. Infact the only category where other companies / Private Owner wagons are more prevelant are (unsurprisingly) coal traffic. I am assuming that Coal/Coke Wagons owned by the LBSCR would be along the lines of the 7 Plank design shared with the SE&CR. (I havent quoted diagram numbers as I don't have my book with me). No Private Owner Vans arrived during this time period, with PO Wagons being exclusively for the coal trade. The most prevelant van from the other railways was from the SECR with three deliveries and one LNWR & one GER van making up all five others in that category. I have made a very crude matrix, based on the proportion percentages and a 20 wagon pool to show me how many of each type I would need as a guide to (relatively) accurately model this time period. Anyway, I hope it is of some interest and indicates where I am heading in terms of modelling direction - even only for myself. Gary

It is indeed the most correct answer to the question - however I am not quite sure how to pitch a trip to the beach to the other half and kids if the beach is 6 hours away! 🤣 Especially compared to the one ten minutes away... I don't think "the wrong type of sand" will cut it. I'll PM you shortly re-wagons. I'm hoping to retrieve some Terriers from the depths of the Garage tomorrow as well as some more suitable rolling stock. I might even set up The Dyke and see what sorry state its actually in. Gary

Good Evening, I hope everyone has had a fantastic festive season, and now it has turned to a new year. I have decided (probably Ill-conceieved & hastily) that I will try and get this shelf layout vaguely in a decent order for my Birthday in May as a self-imposed deadline. I have managed to allocate one evening a week to modelling time and hopefully this will let me get some real progess achieved. In the meantime I have been doing research and looking at items I can obtain to continue making the layout. Yes, I am still making some final decisions - I have ordered some more platform ramps and sections from Scale Model Scenery as well as a board crossing; what I am going to do is make the platform ramps and assess then if I need further platform sections. I may add an extra section to make the platform longer - it depends on how it feels with the additional length of the ramps. I have also seen that Scale Model Scenery makes a blend of material I could use for ballast marked as 'coastal' - the LBSCR used shingle ballast from Eastbourne Beach for their ballast needs so this might be exactly what I need. I have been using lots of sources for Pre-Grouping traffic patterns and have found that the 'Lewes & East Grinstead Railway' by Klaus Marx very interesting - the traffic patterns at Sheffield Park's Freight Office has been most enlightening - coupled with the Southern Wagons book has made me look at obtaining/making some wagons for the layout. Some of the Dapol unpainted wagons are a close match for LBSCR wagons at a distance - I am going to look at modifying a Dapol 7 Plank with some extra strapping and a paint job it will look the part. I'm also quite happy that I have managed to obtain an Oxford Rail GER 10t van in Great Eastern Livery; apparently between November 1899 & March 1900 a GER van was the only vehicle from that railway company to visit Sheffield Park - unlike the Beer Traffic to Sheffield Park! 6 Midland Railway wagons & 3 South Eastern & Chatham Vans all containing beer. Burton Ale & Bishop Neame I wonder? Its interesting the traffic from the Midlands came in open wagons, yet similar traffic from a neighbouring railway came in vans. Nevertheless the information has given me a good spread of wagon kits & models for me to build & obtain - I am starting with the easier ones first however! Definately cannot have too many Terriers, I think that is number fifteen - but is the first modern one. I think I have the previous generation with Brighton Gold Medal winner as well - I'll have to look. I hope everyone has had a great time; and I look forwards to sharing some actual progress soon. Gary

Thats a fantastic spread of pointwork, and an equally gorgeous locomotive to be testing it all out with! I look forwards to seeing more. Kind Regards, Gary

I hope everyone has had a great christmas! In our house after a very busy day - I have two children tucked up in bed and a quiet day planned for tomorrow! For me its a cup of tea, a read of my new railway books and admiring this beauty that Father Christmas brought for me: Nothing like some Improved Engine Green on Christmas! Merry Christmas to all! Gary

I used to have the complete Scaledale station buildings set from that range many years ago; as good as it was it just never seemed to fit on my platforms or look quite right to my eyes. Evenually I sold them on for further funds for the O Gauge project (it paid for Fenchurch from Dapol) - its funny that Devil's Dyke pops up several times because my 'main' 00 layout which is currently dormant awaiting refurb/replacement was of The Dyke - compressed somewhat into 7'x1' and perhaps some liberties with the scenery as seen here: Taken in Feburary 2014 the layout sans Fiddle Yard, and again in May 2017 - about two weeks after my Daughter was born this must've been one of if not the last time the layout ran. When it comes to single line Termini the LBSCR really only has three, The Dyke & Hayling Island are the main two - with Kemp Town being the third - but arguable Kemp Town should have ben double track ideally. As I've said before - I am not striving for historical accuaracy. I am looking at this as a fun project to get up the mojo to sort out my layout of The Dyke and figure out its future. I am looking at this BLT on a Shelf probably more like a through station thats been cut back for whatever reason - so the station would be more like Fittleworth or Barcombe as an example so it was a block post at some stage - if I include the crossing at the station's headshunt end then the box would also control the level crossing as well. As an interesting aside - if you look at the track plan for Devils Dyke and compare it to the above photos as the following one below: I might have an unhealthy obsession with Devil's Dyke with two layouts in two scales bearing striking resemblences! Really fascinating photos - you're right I've looked at the trapping for the goods yard and its certainly a thing of art, almost a double slip. I havent figures out a track plan in all honesty - usually I physcially research a location and plop my station down, figure out its connections to the real world and go from there but on this shelfie I have literally nailed track to a board and plopped a train on it. I will certainly have a think on the traffic pattern - equally only table space is stopping me making this a through station I'd need another fiddlestick and thats it. Yes there is - it looks fantastic; and for shapeways its not too unreasonably priced. I was considering buying one for my N Gauge layout but have held off work on it so far - A 00 one would look very grand - the laser cut box of Drayton looks very nice as well; I've worked with lasercut wood/mdf before so I might go down that route first as its marginally cheaper. I think Devil's Dyke is the closest by far, and it was normally 'One Engine in Steam' with a special trainstaff token which was 'Brighton & The Dyke' despite the trainstaff/token's authority not actually starting until the branch diverged from the mainline. I believe its been said before The Dyke was a mixed train in the morning and then passenger shuttles to Brighton the rest of the day. Six coupled locomotives being preferred for their adhesion but four-coupled locos occasionally visited as well as a variety of railcars such as the Steam Sentinel one on trial. Hayling Island was One Engine in Steam in winter and then multiple trains at peak summer - but again had a dedicated mixed train rather than a freight only run in the mornings. Kind Regards, ~ Gary

Not at all - any & all advice is accepted. The shelf is actualy solid pinewood which has had two coats of undercoat and a black topcoat applied all over. I did have some small feet for the layout made out of offcuts of pinewood and soft batten but I am not sure where they have gone in the move currently. I will certainly keep an eye on the trueness of the board and will certainly look at bracing the underside of it to keep it in alignment. No need to apologise at all - real life overtakes at times; to be honest since my daughter was born I havent really had the time/money/inclination to do much modelling of any sort - between having a little one and working full-time, then COVID and loosing a job and getting anything that was going I am sure the past couple of years have been hard on everyone and it certainly feels like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire at times! No pictures this evening - not much has happened - I have fiddled with the length of the loop and it is effectively a double straight plus another half straight in length - this allows me to easily run-around the Bachmann set of Stroudley coaches without bashing them up. I did also do some trawling through the PC and found files for some Scalescene products that may be useful to incorporate on the layout. I also have an A Model Railway LBSCR Signalbox downloadable pdf kit based on Drayton box which will be a great start for some structures - I also have an Alphagrafix kit I could scale down potentially so thats two options straight away for some buildings. I am not sure if I want to keep the Hornby platform shelter building - if I do I am half-tempted to obtain another one and paint that up as I am not sure I want to alter the finish of the current one considering it was a gift many years ago from my Nan, plenty of time to think on that one. I have also found a Stroudley Lantern Brake Van kit from York Model Rail which is a mixed media model of MDF bodyshell & Mylar details added over the top. Doesn't have a chassis but looks like a Dapol 10' wheelbase could be adapted to fit - as the wheelbase of the real thing was 9' 9". Kind Regards, Gary

You're quite right, I could possibly find/move some track around and get another quarter straight of track into the space available - I'll have a ponder and rummage in the box this evening - I know I have the track cutters with me in my modelling toolbox. To be honest - I was just following the plan as to where the platform should/could go - but your are right there isn't any reason why I couldn't move it down closer to the proposed crosing gates and simply set back to run-around (provided the loop is long enough), potentially use the extra thin extension piece to give a much longer platform than is actually needed. I'll try and book some 'table time' to have a play and test out the platform location - it would make more sense with regards to the level crossing gates - the vague idea I had was for a light-railway so it would fit well. Something we have in common the Brighton & Highland Lines is William Stroudley - certainly a gifted engineer of his time. The fiddleyard will just be more of a fiddlestick - I will pop some track onto a piece of batten and attach/detach it as needed. I've had a look through your threads, I enjoyed seeing your work on your whitemetal locomotives. Kind Regards, Gary

I cannot remember the last time I actually gave my 00 a run; hopefully that'll change somewhat. I don't want to bore anyone, but I have done a little fettling and thought I would share what adjustments to the trackplan has been made. Nothing major just tinkering. So primarily as this is using Setrack I will be using that nomenclature rather than listing the lengths in mm etc. You'll have to excuse the post-grouping stock, up until recently I didn't believe it would be possible for me to make a Layout of the LBSC in its pre-grouping guise this will be rectified in due time. Starting with the station and run-around loop, on both sides a quarter straight was added in - this has the benefit of permitting a reasonable length train to be accomodated: Three 'standard' length wagons and a slightly large Brake Van seem to be reasonably acommodated without bashing into either end running around - a shorter Brake Van would ease the need to stop precisely. As well as three of Bachman's Red Coaches from their Thomas range which are based (loosely) on LBSCR Stroudley coaches - I'd probably only run two coaches in all honesty for ease and three literally fills the platform space! But it also means I could run a small mixed train with one coach or use the Ratio coach I have been modifying for a number of years to be a passable LBSCR Push-Pull Driving Trailer. The headshunt for the station has also been extended and is a Standard and a Half Straight in length, this allows me to use either: A short locomotive such as a Terrier or 0-4-0 and two wagons, or as seen below as my latest locomotive - a larger locomotive and a single wagon: Incidentally this is my first ever 'Really useful Engine' I have ever owned and I wanted one as a different locomotive to run from the Terriers - it runs well for its age and I will be looking at making some minor cosmetic upgrades to it in the future. The idea is for the headshunt to end at a closed Level Crossing Gate - I also have an idea for a small signalbox to sit behind the coal wagon here and a wooden foot crossing - the idea is the signalbox is also the 'gate box' and that the line once continued onwards but currently does not. The single siding has had a quarter straight lengthening piece fitted and can now easily accomodate two wagons of a standard length - I havent yet had a play to see operationally how long it takes me to tie myself in knots but I am looking forwards to giving it a go, I did find some paint last night which I might have a go at painting some sleepers in a wash of brown provisionally - I have also found some PVA glue so I have the ability to fix the platforms etc in place to the boards and prime them as well. So some fiddling is definately on the cards; I just need to sort out if I want to get wider platform ramps as I have thin ones currently and if I want to replace the half-loading dock in the siding with something else or not. But currently everything is looking good. Apologies for the boring update; I'll try and not to post anything else until something actually happens next time. Wishing you all the best here, from my Budget Brighton BLT! Gary (Who else is thinking about sandwiches currently...? Just me?)

Radius is the measurement of a circule from the outer edge to the centremost point, the 'pivot' point as it were. Diameter which is what we are looking at here is the quoted size of a circle from one side to another, i.e. double the distance measured in radius. So you actually have a ten & half inch radius, or twenty-one inch diameter. But as said before normally measurements are taken from the track centre line. 🙂 Looks great, I have also had some Budget Model Railways inspiration so keep it up!

Hello all! I hope everyone is well, and I would like to say welcome to my latest project that has broken cover. This one has been about two years in the back of my mind rumbling about not quite going away but not seemingly coming to anything. So I had to move house in 2017 when my Daughter was 5 months old, and since then my old layout based on The Dyke (once called my summer project) was put into storage and effectively nothing has been done with it since that time, in November just gone we had to move again into hopefully a much more long-term house and The Dyke was pulled from storage glanced at, and it standing in the new Garage awaiting the time for me to look at doing a refurbishment/replacement. The boards are sound its just pretty much everything else, the track has corroded (Nickel-Silver) and the scenery and wiring had been chewed up - so will need replacing. Anyway during lockdown; I watched a lot of Budget Model Railways as a way to de-stress and try to get some mojo going for modelling and one of the vast number of layouts produced was the model railway for absolute beginners a very interesting six-part series, I'd recommend anyone to watch it even just to see how someone else plans a model railway and their thought processes. I have also watched @BlueLightning's brilliant livestreams on a semi-regular basis as I have a similar interest in pre-grouping model railways. In August 2021 i bought from Wickes a shelf kit, measuring 1185mm x 190mm and after primering it and rummaging around my box of bits and pieces I followed the Budget Model Railways ideas and produced this plan: Its a very basic three-point plan, a station with run around loop and a single siding off of it as well as a headshunt & fiddle stick. Now I went through a number of permutations of this by positioning different platform arrangements and shifting the tracks this way or that way by a couple of inches to try and get the most out of the space as seen here: But nothing seemed to be quite right - as an aside the Hornby shelter was a gift to me from my Nan when I got my first Hornby Trainset in 1994/95 The Highlander which is interesting as The Hornby Railways Collectors Guide seems to imply that this set was only released the year I was born and the year after... yet I distinctly remember it as a christmas gift when I was about five or six... because I got the 1998 GWR Freight set a year or two later on. Anyway I digress, the plan wasn't working, it was boring to operate the scenery just didn't seem like it was going to work out - I lost interest in it and the track was removed and an inglenook was placed down instead but I couldn't get that running on a regular basis so I switched to an O Gauge ultra micro and that was recycled into an N Gauge station latterly on different boards and this shelf was stored behind the sofa forgotten about until moving day last month. It was brought to the new house alongside my small trunk of 'clean' non garage, non storage box items to the new house whilst the bulk of my collection and layout is stored in the new garage. My better half has been sick of me moaning at her I don't have a layout and I'm bored, and itching to do a new project - she effectively told me to get on with something, although perhaps not in those terms! So after watching a livestream or two and chatting with some friends I have had the urge to have another go; i've resurrected the shelf and watched the whole Budget Model Railways series again to see what I had missed and it was after an episode or two startingly obvious what I had gotten wrong, it was the exit off of scene. In the photos above, the exit is the long headshunt shown behind the carriage. Whereas compared to the photo below: Excuse the background clutter - the living room still looks like a warehouse after the move! It doesn't help I had to extract this from under a small pile of boxes and wargame counters! The exit off scene should be here, bottom left with the line running down off the shot - that way the siding to be shunted is facing the opposite way and requires the skilful use of the loop and headshunt to sort everything out properly. This was a first mock-up to be tested and I was quite pleased with it - where I had flipped the plan around for ease I had acually removed some of the interest and made it boring to operate! The other thing I decided upon after watching the video series Budget Model Railways show that they way they do it is to not have everything on one board, so following that the fiddleyard/fiddlestick will be moved onto a small seperate board. Yes I can fit everything on one board here, provided I want a loco and a single carriage or a loco, wagon and guards van. By moving the fiddlestick off of the shelf it has allowed me to insert small lengthening straights into the loop and platform road, as well as lengthening the headshunt to take a loco slightly larger than a Terrier as well as a wagon and lengthing the siding so it can accept two wagons easily. None of that is shown here, but may be shown in a future post. It does also mean I can devote almost the entire shelf length & width to scenery rather than a slightly odd break for the fiddleyard where there is no scenery. Some disclaimers; this is intended to be a layout I can just get on and have a play with, practice some skills run some trains. To this end I am literally just raiding what is in my boxes I have to hand in the house - its Code 100 Hornby track yes, not great but it'll do the job. Yes I am lazy, I am using the Hornby DCC clips for the point to back feed power to the siding and only supplying power to the fiddlestick. Yes I've used trackscrews - because I had them to hand. I'm not going to be claiming that I am making a scale model of somewhere - I do think sometimes in the hobby we take ourselves too seriously and procrastinate about getting everything 'right' without actually achieving anything. So this is here to have a little bit of fun for me, I was inspired to get on and do something so I shall. Realistically I probably wont get much further before the New Year as I have no ballast or extra scenery items; but I will have somewhere to test my present that will be under the tree on Christmas morning. 😁 Despite it being slapped together as track on a bare board, with platforms and a building roughly in place - I'll leave you with this photo of the wrong engine paired with the wrong carriage... But I think it has some actual atmosphere and I was very pleased how it looked when this photo was revealed to me on my phone: It just looked 'right' in my eyes. I hope you all have a fantastically festive season to be merry and bright. And may Father Christmas bring you something from your wishlists. Take Care! Gary

I've always enjoyed reading your thread; especially because its pre-grouping. I've never had Trainz, only Train Sim etc but it is great what you've been doing and showing to us all. GER Prussian Blue livery is right up there as one of my favourites.

The LB&SCR L Class Baltics were remarkably stable in use; unlike the River Class they were fitted with baffle plates in the side tanks - which were smaller than they look as the locos were fitted with cosmetic outer covers to make the side tanks look bigger. More importantly they had a Well Tank which I think helped reduce the centre of gravity. I think the first one or two lacked the baffle plates and had larger tanks but were quickly modifed to standard when the remaining ones were delivered. They are gorgeous machines, but the 4-6-4T Baltic arrangement always looks a little strange - possibly because of its 'eveness' in footprint.

I think the main problems with H&M Duettes I have seen online is due to their construction (mild steel?) They are rust prone. Is it the wiring which has Asbestos insulation? Kind Regards, Gary

I believe the R965 is a Thyristor based controller. In the controllers defence it has been the primary one I have used since 1998! It's certainly had numerous hours of use. It came with my GWR Mixed Traffic set for Christmas that year! Kind Regards, Gary

Just to round this topic off with some good news, the family and I went out yesterday. And on a whim I popped into the model department of the small department store and managed to pick up a Gaugemaster COMBI. The difference is noticeable even from the off! Kind Regards, Gary

You're right it was without a locomotive on the track - I only checked as it was an annoyance to try and get slow-speed running. I know using a Hornby controller to try and get slow speed running is like trying to get a kettle to boil at exactly 100 degrees celsius. I'd just rather not be fly shunting wagons about constantly or going off like a pocket rocket. 😀 This project has certainly felt like one step forwards and one step back constantly! I'm going to retire the controller I think, its done its time after nearly 25 years. Maybe I can find someone to service it along with my even older R921 controller! Which I don't use as locos tend to 'creep' along when the controller is at zero. I have previously looked at Gaugemaster - their COMBI controller seems to be all that I would need - and I like the idea of the lifetime guarantee which is something you don't get very often. Not that I imagine its needed very often. I did look at building the Budget Model Railways DC controller as it seems quite simple to put together but it doesn't have the Aux output for a CDU so would require another transformer etc. The Morley controllers do look good - but they are all doubles - I only ever need a single control for my layouts as space isn't really available for what you'd need to use that controller efficently. I suppose you could wire up some cab control so that sections could be controlled by either control knob so you could move two locos at once. Kind Regards, Gary

Good Morning All, I'm looking for a little bit of help, my stalwart DC controller a Hornby R965 and wall transformer from my 1998 Western Goods set has been behaving erratically recently. I have had to make much more use of the finger of God move locos this has lead me to the connection between the transformer and the controller being loose and not making contact. Which is the first problem, after that I noticed there wasn't any real speed control on the dial al I decided to measure the track voltage. Considering it's supposed to be 0-12v DC output, at 5% power I measured 21.2v DC across the rails, dipping to 15/16v at the mid point on the controller (which was the lowest voltage measured) raising to 23v DC at 100% on the controller dial. The Aux AC output is also measuring 20v AC instead of 15v AC. My question is after 24 years of a fair amount of use is it time to swap out controllers? It sounds to me that there is a problem within the controller when it comes to the output. Can anyone offer some advice please? Kind Regards, Gary

Happy Bank Holiday everyone! I hope everyone has been enjoying their three-day weekend where possible; I know I have had a lovely time with the family - and it'll be back to earth with a bump tomorrow! I have managed to get some small amounts of modelling done; finished painting the boards. I have secured the track down and I even managed to start building a platform/loading dock. So with the help of the modellers friend (Corregated Card) I took some measurements, swapped my knife blade, started drawing and cutting and made up a basic support frame of card and glued it together with some basic PVA. I made the platforms 28mm tall and to this I have added some 2mm thick card/fibreboard I purchased a couple of years ago to make counters for wargames with: So of course I had to take the opportunity to place the two buildings I have for the layout on the platform - the platform itself needs the left hand side cutting properly - the offcuts are just positioned to cover the whole thing, I was too tired last night to measure and cut another piece out to finish the job. Having placed the buildings on here and measuring - the smaller right-hand side building which is supposed to be a shop but it is too deep and leaves too small a gap between the front of the building and the platform edge of a scale 3 foot 6 inches. As we can see the gap is just too small - out of interest the warehouse building has a scale gap of 5 foot 7 inches from the face of the building to the platform edge. What I am thinking of doing is doing away with the shop/office building and moving the warehouse further to the right into the corner where it will become the 'main' building. I am thinking of aligning the left hand warehouse door roughly with where a wagon/van adjacent to the buffers of the front track would be so you could offload from a wagon or van straight into the warehouse. Then further towards the left, nearer to where the second track ends against the end of the platform I am thinking of either building a small lock-up or perhaps putting a grounded van body on the platform to act as a lock-up. So next jobs are to finish the platform, then look at getting some brick plastikard for the platform faces and to get the platform surface covered as well to make it look less like fresh snowfall! What was nice however, was my daughter had lots of fun this morning moving playmobil figures around on the boards and them taking a ride in the wagons. I hope everyone is staying safe, and happy modelling! Gary