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<p>I have now produced two lighting boards - one for each vehicle of the first unit. Each board powers one vehicles Cab light, Saloon lights & BIL Indicators.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> I have used stripboard so I can mount all required LED's & resistors directly to the board to avoid any difficult to hide wiring. Unfortunately with this board in place the standard glazing unit won't fit back in completely so that has had to be cut down with a sharp scalpel and carefully snapping it.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> I haven't been too picky with the resistor values as, if the lights are too bright, I can dim them through the LokSound or LokPilot FX decoders as appropriate. I plan on mounting both the decoders in the powered vehicle and using small JST plugs to connect track power and lighting wires through to the other vehicle.</p><p> </p><p> I have some Express Models tower LED's to fit head & tail lights - I plan on creating the lew style light fittings with bi-colour Marker/Tail lights, firstly because this is easier but also as this is what probably would have been fitted if GWR still had any 142s. Once the head and tail lights are in and my LokPilot FX is here I can start to work on wiring in the decoders and connecting everything together. After the decoders are in and it all works there are just a few cosmetic things to sort out - Rebuild parts of the interior, fitting of the NRN radio pods, painting the seating & cutting a hole in the front skirt for future coupling fitting (I hope Bachmann offer their new 158/9 coupling as a spare so I can fit all my 14x, 15x & 17x fleet).</p><p> </p><p> Oh, and then there's another one to do before I move on to my next project!</p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21837]' id='ipb-attach-url-1102702-0-10663500-1547661721' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-7028-0-16993200-1547658234.jpg"title="20190114_211718 (1).jpg - Size: 504KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-7028-0-16993200-1547658234_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1102702-0-10663500-1547661721' style='width:800;height:600' class='attach' width="800" height="600" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21837]' id='ipb-attach-url-1102703-0-11757500-1547661721' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-7028-0-15277700-1547658337.jpg"title="20190116_165853.jpg - Size: 776.64KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-7028-0-15277700-1547658337_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1102703-0-11757500-1547661721' style='width:800;height:600' class='attach' width="800" height="600" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

To match teh loco to the layout a couple of renaming jobs undertaken. first up my Mainline/Comet - now Madras and a Hornby Rebuilt Scot the Middlesex Regiment Baz Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Chris Yates has finished building the 'temporary panel' for Lawrence Hill Junction signal box, another job done for which I am very grateful. I say temporary because it only controls the turnouts at present as I have yet to build the signals. Chris has built in interlocking on the junction using relays with LEDs confirming turnout settings and the junction with entrance and exit to the shed yard is now fully operational. Lawrence Hill Junction Panel Lawrence Hill double junction Lawrence Hill Junction Signal Box and the shed north entrance and exit. Here are a couple of videos of Ex Midland 3F 43712 going on shed - and off shed. I suggest watching with the sound turned of as I forgot I had the radio on!! Landscape mode would have been an improvement:-) Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

<p>I have been making some small cosmetic changes to the Bakewell project recently including the construction of the Midland style signal box . I have used the excellent laser cut kit made by L Cut creative. The kit has excellent details for both the exteriors and interiors to make a generic model at a brilliant price of £8.99 for the exterior- I purchased mine at the Warley Show in November and have nearly completed the model. It was painted in LMS buildings cream and Midland maroon then suitably weathered in weathering powder to create a steam age feel. Glazing was acrylic sheet from York Model making.<br />The interior kit is also supplied by L Cut creative and is remarkably detailed. Once competed I will be adding interior lighting and a signalman.</p><p> </p><p> The signal box is a generic copy of the one at Bakewell although on this version it is NOT as tall. The Bakewell cabin was some 6 planks taller and requires extensive modifications which need a degree of kit bashing. Still, I think that the L Cut creative is a superior kit to the Ratio one which I have built before</p><p> </p><p> Here are some progress pictures.</p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21833]' id='ipb-attach-url-1102257-0-98052900-1547588501' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-26417-0-64148300-1547587742.jpg"title="Bakewell signal box interior.jpg - Size: 261.33KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-26417-0-64148300-1547587742_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1102257-0-98052900-1547588501' style='width:800;height:450' class='attach' width="800" height="450" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21833]' id='ipb-attach-url-1102255-0-98981600-1547588501' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-26417-0-63058100-1547587701.jpg"title="Bakewell signal box interior front view.jpg - Size: 309.91KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-26417-0-63058100-1547587701_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1102255-0-98981600-1547588501' style='width:800;height:450' class='attach' width="800" height="450" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21833]' id='ipb-attach-url-1102254-0-98986700-1547588501' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-26417-0-21777700-1547587687.jpg"title="Bakewell signal box exterior view.jpg - Size: 293.15KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-26417-0-21777700-1547587687_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1102254-0-98986700-1547588501' style='width:800;height:450' class='attach' width="800" height="450" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

<p>Happy 2019!</p><p> </p><p>I had a great Christmas. You know what's better than getting a Lego train for Christmas?</p><p> </p><p>Getting two!</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>Thanks to my wife and my brother getting some Black Friday deals, I was a very lucky boy.</p><p> </p><p>The set comes in multiple bags, as per usual. You also get a loop of track with only 4 straight pieces. It's practically a circle.<br />l<br /></p><p> </p><p>What's new about this is the Powered Up system, which operates on bluetooth instead of infra-red. The main functionality is contained in the battery box, which has a built in bluetooth receiver rather than using a separate IR receiver. Everything runs off AAA batteries as well, making it lighter than the Power Functions system my other trains use.</p><p> </p><p>I learned all this building the first part of the train - the powered loco.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>I like the styling of this train and it feels much better designed than the <a href='http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1879/entry-20682-longer-trains-better-trains/'class='bbc_url' title=''><strong class='bbc'>white passenger train</strong></a>. The cab is much easier to access.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>The battery box is built into the design and is also very easy to access compared to other trains.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>The two coaches are a buffet car and a passenger car. The buffet car has a small serving area complete with coffee maker.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>As it's a passenger train, it comes with a passenger.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>She's packed Lego for her trip.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>And her case fits into a neat little luggage rack between the set of seats. It's a good thing she's the only passenger with luggage.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>The set also comes with a massively underwhelming platform.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>Maybe I should have put the sticker on the panel, but I don't think it would have made it look any better. I left it off because I might use the panel elsewhere.</p><p> </p><p>Also in that bag was a traffic signal. It's not the most exciting thing, but hey, better than nothing.</p><p> </p><p></p><p> </p><p>I have got some video and overall pictures of the train - I will sort those for another post. Having two sets means I could create a six car train, rather than a 3 car train. But the 3 car train whips along.</p><p> </p><p><strong class='bbc'>Overall verdict</strong></p><p> </p><p><strong class='bbc'>Pros </strong><br />A very nice-looking train set.<br />Much better design than some of the previous ones. No holes in the floor, easy access to the batteries and to the cab, it honestly feels like Lego have taken some real care over this set.<br />Buffet car interior is fun. Loved the coffee machine detail.<br />Passenger luggage complete with Lego set made me laugh.<br />Powered Up is a much nicer system and worked with absolutely no glitches. The battery box is nicer than the Power Functions one that it replaced. Not having to make room for an IR receiver is helpful, as that always had to 'poke out' of the top of a train using Power Functions.<br />The motor is, if anything, overpowered for the contents of the box. it pulls a six car train with no bother to a scale speed of at least 100 mph.</p><p> </p><p><strong class='bbc'>Cons</strong><br />The passenger station is just a token gesture.<br />Limited seats - 4 in the carriage. This is not mass transit at all.<br />No working doors anywhere. You can take the roof off to place people inside. And they can't get out once you put the roof back on, bwahahahaha.<br />Stickers. The front of the cab and the rear of the power car have large stickers. They're not too annoying to place. I just have a thing about sets with an RRP over £100 coming with stickers.</p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101884-0-06921700-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-53529000-1547505067.jpg"title="1 - two train sets.jpg - Size: 94.01KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-53529000-1547505067_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101884-0-06921700-1547506910' style='width:800;height:323' class='attach' width="800" height="323" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101885-0-08006700-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-47426900-1547505073.jpg"title="2 - Set contents.jpg - Size: 97.78KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-47426900-1547505073_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101885-0-08006700-1547506910' style='width:800;height:450' class='attach' width="800" height="450" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101886-0-08012300-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-48901800-1547505083.jpg"title="3 - bag 2 powered loco.jpg - Size: 235.47KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-48901800-1547505083_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101886-0-08012300-1547506910' style='width:740;height:800' class='attach' width="740" height="800" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101887-0-08018500-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-19920000-1547505091.jpg"title="4 - loco complete.jpg - Size: 286.84KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-19920000-1547505091_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101887-0-08018500-1547506910' style='width:800;height:593' class='attach' width="800" height="593" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101888-0-08023000-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-37803600-1547505099.jpg"title="5 - cab access.jpg - Size: 215.53KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-37803600-1547505099_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101888-0-08023000-1547506910' style='width:459;height:800' class='attach' width="459" height="800" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101889-0-08027200-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-01849700-1547505107.jpg"title="6 - battery box.jpg - Size: 222.39KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-01849700-1547505107.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101889-0-08027200-1547506910' style='width:799;height:768' class='attach' width="799" height="768" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101890-0-08033000-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-45987700-1547505114.jpg"title="7 - battery box 2nd angle.jpg - Size: 225.55KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-45987700-1547505114_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101890-0-08033000-1547506910' style='width:693;height:800' class='attach' width="693" height="800" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101892-0-08038000-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-59828900-1547505124.jpg"title="8 - buffet car service area.jpg - Size: 215.09KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-59828900-1547505124_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101892-0-08038000-1547506910' style='width:800;height:728' class='attach' width="800" height="728" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101894-0-08042100-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-63393600-1547505130.jpg"title="9 - passenger.jpg - Size: 205.9KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-63393600-1547505130_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101894-0-08042100-1547506910' style='width:800;height:724' class='attach' width="800" height="724" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101895-0-08047200-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-04095000-1547505144.jpg"title="10 - passenger open case.jpg - Size: 219.15KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-04095000-1547505144.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101895-0-08047200-1547506910' style='width:768;height:789' class='attach' width="768" height="789" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101896-0-08051500-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-33422400-1547505160.jpg"title="11 - luggage space.jpg - Size: 97.18KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-33422400-1547505160_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101896-0-08051500-1547506910' style='width:800;height:533' class='attach' width="800" height="533" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101897-0-08055600-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-09333200-1547505169.jpg"title="12 - platform.jpg - Size: 274.98KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-09333200-1547505169_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101897-0-08055600-1547506910' style='width:522;height:800' class='attach' width="522" height="800" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101898-0-08059700-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-77808000-1547505177.jpg"title="13 - platform built.jpg - Size: 207.71KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-77808000-1547505177_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101898-0-08059700-1547506910' style='width:800;height:715' class='attach' width="800" height="715" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21832]' id='ipb-attach-url-1101899-0-08064100-1547506910' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-71973900-1547505184.jpg"title="14 - traffic signal.jpg - Size: 158.62KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-13501-0-71973900-1547505184_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1101899-0-08064100-1547506910' style='width:362;height:800' class='attach' width="362" height="800" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

It's Monday afternoon here at Crymlyn A Shop and the locomotive for the Peckett W4 class contract has been pushed outside the works for her steam tests. Some minor adjustments are being made by Owen the Spanner and Dai the Paint touches up the paintwork. Our foreman admires the Boyos' work while Baldrick, the Crymlyn A Shop gofor, tidies up ashes in the yard. Dai the Steam has been complaining about the cold on the incline to Graig Wen colliery and our foreman, in an unusually good mood, has instructed Arwel ap Iolo Pain, the village glazier, to glaze the cab windows on Dai's favourite locomotive 1140. The results of his work can be seen. Another problem has arisen in that one of the "Hercules" nameplates for this locomotive has disappeared from Dai larfin's stores. Our foreman is not happy about this and has insisted that no more money is to be spent on this contract so if the plate cannot be found it (or should it be he?) will have to run with only one plate. The surviving nameplate leans against the steps ready to be fitted. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

My Howes sound chip has arrived and it's time to remap the functions! The 142 isn't ready for a chip yet - lots to do - but I couldn't resist having a play with the chip. At the moment I am using a ViTrains 37 body and using the standard speaker that is supplied with the LokSound 4. I am using the Howes sound project. I started by reading all CV's using DecoderPro so I have a backup file in case it all goes pear shaped, it took around an hour to read all of the CV's. I used this, along with the provided function sheet, to establish which sound slots associated with which sounds. Then I began remapping the functions to a 'personal standard' so all of my stock will use common functions (this is in the notepad file at the top), the function mapping tab of DecoderPro is also in the gallery. I'm not too sure about having door open and close on the same latching function - this means that the door close sound plays whenever track power is turned on and also seems to play whenever I select speed-step 0 from anywhere above 50%. For now I think it's time to return to the 142 and get that ready for decoder fitting before settling on function order and volume settings! Cheers. View the full article

I have finally painted my Roco English Electric shunter. I settled on a simple livery inspired by the sister engine used at Day Aggregates and later preserved at the Mid-Hants railway. I used Halfords white primer, Halfords 'Vauxhall Reed Green' and Railmatch 'faded warning yellow'. Halfords recommend their grey primer for the Vauxhall green but I chose white because it was easier to use the same primer all over the model and the yellow needs a white base if it is ever going to cover. The cab roof is a pale grey from the Revell Aquacolour range. The handrails here are a mixture of plastic ones by Roco and brass ones of mine. I pulled off the brass handrails I had added on the front foot steps because they kept on falling off, the mouldings here are rigid polythene and nothing stays put for long. I finished the model with a very light dusting of Humbrol enamel matt varnish, applied a few weeks after the acrylic gloss. This hides the brush marks on the yellow paint and kills the high gloss of the green. The Roco chassis runs well. Its main weakness is the use of plunger pick-ups on the treads of the wheels. The pick-ups get just as dirty as the wheels, and you have to drop the wheels out to clean everything. I do not intend to number the engine, but a nameplate would be good when I find something small enough. The camera is unkind to models but I am happy with my results here. This is my first attempt at repainting a model I bought brand new - there was some trepidation here but it has turned out reasonable. I try to not add too many Continental outline models to my collection, but I think the model looks business-like with this Roco hopper wagon, and representative of a private British operation. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

<p>This is where I’ve really struggled, but happier with this than anytime previously. I’ve built the crane housing by adding windows to a Wills lamp hut, inverted the walkway along the crane and removed the original crane platform. Looking in Monk Bar models this afternoon made me dig out a Metcalfe brewery warehouse, and it might be combined with a workshop. I think I’ll remove the rear two columns of windows and replace with brick to allow for a clean join between the two. The brick section join could be covered by a down pipe. Some greenery between the bridge and the warehouse will hide the backscene a bit more, and I’ll put in a gateway somewhere behind the crane to give entrance to the area and also to the large factory by going under the bridge. I’d like it to look like it could work.<br /><br />I don’t think I’ve posted a picture of the whole thing recently, so here it is...<br /><br />Got a good 2’ to go at now, which will be nice to work on when it’s not so good outside. That bridge might get finished at last, it’s been like that for too long now. Then just the section to the small factory to develop. The front concrete apron is more than likely going to be a covered platform of some type, but that will wait to the end.</p><p> </p><p> Thanks again for looking.</p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21828]' id='ipb-attach-url-1100801-0-83545700-1547403711' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-25997-0-59978800-1547401321.jpeg"title="09CF0917-FEBA-4907-8F3E-08191A9247E6.jpeg - Size: 348.91KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-25997-0-59978800-1547401321_thumb.jpeg" id='ipb-attach-img-1100801-0-83545700-1547403711' style='width:800;height:598' class='attach' width="800" height="598" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21828]' id='ipb-attach-url-1100804-0-84666500-1547403711' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-25997-0-59172600-1547401441.jpeg"title="AB92DEBA-4048-4003-9BC6-02046CE19E53.jpeg - Size: 271.03KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-25997-0-59172600-1547401441_thumb.jpeg" id='ipb-attach-img-1100804-0-84666500-1547403711' style='width:800;height:598' class='attach' width="800" height="598" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

Approaching Watford from the south. On the DC Side. A 1959 Tube set departs from Watford, as a Metropolitan A60 arrives on a service from Baker Street via the Croxley Link. Alongside the Grand Union canal at Linslade. Northbound Freight. A Derby Lightweight Single Car DMU waits to leave platform 7 at Harrow & Wealdstone for Stanmore Village. To the south of Harrow. Motorail versus Coal. Passing through Harrow. 47 passes 47 at Watford. Busy period at Harrow. Out at Linslade. South of Harrow. Euston bound. An 87 hauled Express powers through Linslade. Northbound Express overtakes northbound Freight at Harrow. To the north of Harrow. North end at Harrow & Wealdstone. Green 47 to the rescue. A late running 1A04 0110 off Holyhead thunders south through Harrow. The Southbound Bullion Special passes through Watford Junction. A 1959 Tube set arrives in platform three at The Junction. Southbound Manchester Pullman passes the northbound Liverpool Pullman at Linslade. The overhead wiring train heading north at Linslade. Research Department Special heading north at Linslade. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

<p>Well its been a while since I have posted. Thats it no explanation, Anyway moving on.</p><p> </p><p> I have kit bashed a custom engine from the basis of a Royal Scot chassis, B12 body and tender and other pieces from different engines </p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21826]' id='ipb-attach-url-1100499-0-55318500-1547372846' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-34114-0-58461800-1547372600.jpg"title="20190109_215003.jpg - Size: 265.86KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-34114-0-58461800-1547372600_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1100499-0-55318500-1547372846' style='width:800;height:600' class='attach' width="800" height="600" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21826]' id='ipb-attach-url-1100500-0-56238900-1547372846' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-34114-0-84702000-1547372622.jpg"title="20190109_215016.jpg - Size: 256.68KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-34114-0-84702000-1547372622_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1100500-0-56238900-1547372846' style='width:800;height:600' class='attach' width="800" height="600" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

I made up most of the tender body and then spent a while getting things level. Set the buffer heights and shim the compensation beams so the footplates are lined through. Then place the loco and tender on the tightest curve I have ( about 48 inch radius ) and that gives me the minimum length for the tender - loco drawbar. The Caley coaches tender kit includes these, but the size I needed was between the two. Easily adjusted. I put the whole thing together and ran it up and down for a while. Tender needs a bit of weight but apart from that smooth. It is always satisfying to see what is essentially a scratchbuild run well. But something was niggling at me. The overall look was right, but somehow the line of things was broken. I went back and looked at photos of the real thing. It dawned on me. Cab doors. The Caley liked cab doors hinged on the tender side plates and opening out. In the shut position they covered the lower half of the cab handrail. They shut them. Looking at pictures of engines out on the mainline they are well and truly shut. Well, they would be. The ballast is a long way down and going past rather quickly. Doors are a good idea. Ok, I then wondered how everyone else had tacked the issue. I searched, I looked, I went away. You see cab doors on tender locos are one of the modelling worlds little secrets. We ignore them, particularly in the smaller scales. I am as guilty of this as the rest, I have built tender engines and quietly ignored the gap. In rtr terms the gap is often the size of the grand canyon to get the thing round train set curves but even in more accurate layouts they seem to be quietly ignored. The problem is simple, models go round tighter curves than real trains so the door would either be too big of too small. Even with my 48” curves the door would have to shrink and expand by 3mm ish. Time for a bit of a think. I ran the D1 and its tender up and down a while and had a tidy up of the bench. A thought struck me, the doors don’t have to shrink and expand, they just have to appear to shrink and expand from a normal viewing distance. Sliding doors in effect. I dug out some fine brass tube, 0.8 mm od, 0.4 id. 4 sections about 20 mm long were inserted into the tender as parallel to the body as I could make them. Ok, the top two intrude into the coal space, but thats where the coal will be. Next I made up some doors, 10 thou brass with 10 thou spring steel wire as the runners. These slid into the brass tubes like so. The hooks at the front go round the lower part of the cab handrails. So with the tender and loco together at the biggest angle between them you get this sort of telescopic action. The proof of the pudding is in the watching….. I’m actually quite pleased with that. It’s probably been done before, so I wouldn’t claim to be original. Just a first for me. Paintshop next. Might take a while. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Regards Charlie View the full article

he arrival of parts to make another GWT Merlin liveried HST left an easy decision as to what to work on last night. Most of the work requires paint work finishing off a couple of resprayed Lima mk3s once the weather warms up, along with adding Kaydees. Last nights work focused on the powercars. I have a pair of Lima Powercars in GWT that are intended for this project, along with a new Hornby chassis. I started with a few paint modifications to the Lima model, touching up the black and white paint to fix overspray, and painting the inside of the light clusters black. Then it was time to modify the insides to fit the new chassis, first removing the original mounting screw points and glazing insert. Cut the guards door windows from the rest of the windows and refit to the model. Finally carve plastic from the inside of the front fairing to clear the new chassis. It still needs a little more work, I want to respray the white band at the top of the sides (as there is very poor paint coverage over the green). The yellow is a bit of an odd shade (although it was at least painted) so this will also need a respray. Compairing with photos there is a raised lip on the real thing that is missing from the Lima model, so this will need to be fitted. Unfortunately my phone battery ran out before starting this so had to stop until changed to access s prototype photo. While working on HSTs I have also tried to sort out my Virgin powercars, this has been renumbered with Fox transfers names for HMS Penzance. Unfortunately I didn’t varnish and one side got damaged, as I don’t really want to buy replacement transfers. My thought was to mix up paints to match the colours and touch it up by hand. I’m happy with most of it but one colour needs another attempt. I will mask off the glazing and give it a quick dusting of satin varnish to seal it all in this time. What it should look like After the repair View the full article

The arrival of parts to make another GWT Merlin liveried HST left an easy decision as to what to work on last night. Most of the work requires paint work finishing off a couple of resprayed Lima mk3s once the weather warms up, along with adding Kaydees. Last nights work focused on the powercars. I have a pair of Lima Powercars in GWT that are intended for this project, along with a new Hornby chassis. I started with a few paint modifications to the Lima model, touching up the black and white paint to fix overspray, and painting the inside of the light clusters black. Then it was time to modify the insides to fit the new chassis, first removing the original mounting screw points and glazing insert. Cut the guards door windows from the rest of the windows and refit to the model. Finally carve plastic from the inside of the front fairing to clear the new chassis. It still needs a little more work, I want to respray the white band at the top of the sides (as there is very poor paint coverage over the green). The yellow is a bit of an odd shade (although it was at least painted) so this will also need a respray. Compairing with photos there is a raised lip on the real thing that is missing from the Lima model, so this will need to be fitted. Unfortunately my phone battery ran out before starting this so had to stop until changed to access s prototype photo. While working on HSTs I have also tried to sort out my Virgin powercars, this has been renumbered with Fox transfers names for HMS Penzance. Unfortunately I didn’t varnish and one side got damaged, as I don’t really want to buy replacement transfers. My thought was to mix up paints to match the colours and touch it up by hand. I’m happy with most of it but one colour needs another attempt. I will mask off the glazing and give it a quick dusting of satin varnish to seal it all in this time. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Five years ago, I came across JCL's splendid thread about the Silhouette cutters at an appropriate time for dropping heavy hints before Christmas. This resulted in my acquiring a 'Silhouette Portrait' machine and loads of ideas for making my own coaches and buildings. It proved very fortuitous since, only a few months before, I had decided to return to railway modelling by re-furbishing my old small layout and turning back the clock to the 19th century period. The cutter was a great source of inspiration, since it allowed me to explore a wide range of carriages from the Dean period and earlier. I greatly enjoyed constructing models of long-forgotten prototypes. Time has moved on and I have been feeling for a while that I should consider machines capable of working in three dimensions, rather than just cutting out flat sheets. Until recently, the affordable 3D printers all seemed rather ‘geeky’ and needed a rather daunting amount of ‘setting up’. In addition, they were not the sort of thing that could easily fit into the domestic environment, where I do my modelling! Then, while browsing on the web, shortly before the recent Christmas, I spotted a very neat-looking mini-printer called the Geeetech E180 at a very reasonable price (<£200). It had received several favourable reviews and was noted as being especially suitable for use by children. That fact re-assured me that it should not prove too difficult to set up and operate! I wasn’t looking for anything particularly sophisticated but wanted to ‘dip a toe’ in the water and explore the possibilities for making various small parts and fittings for the ‘odd-ball’ locomotives and other vehicles that I enjoy creating. The overall build volume of 130 x 130 x 130 mm seemed adequate for my purposes. Once the festivities were over, I got around to setting up my new machine and was very favourably impressed by its compact size and attractive appearance. There was no doubt that it would sit easily on my work-desk but could be lifted out of the way when not required. I also discovered that the dust cover for a Kenwood Chef mixer was a perfect fit, to keep the machine dust free while in storage. When it came to switching on, I realised that the supplied ‘manual’ actually contained very little information and that the operating instructions were cryptic, to say the least. Even the software has to be loaded from a ‘user forum’ and it was not at all obvious where to begin. At first, I downloaded an old version of the software by mistake, but eventually managed to track down the (apparently current) version of ‘EasyPrint3D v.1.2.6’. This can load an STL-format 3D model and slice it into layers, for laying down by the printer. The ‘layer’ model can be saved onto a mini-SD card, which fits into a slot on the printer. (It’s also possible to connect directly to the printer though a USB lead) Initially, the ‘slicer’ would not start on my Windows 7, 64-bit machine. The EasyPrint software uses a version of the ‘Cura’ engine that needs the 32-bit version of vcomp140.dll to be installed in the SysWOW64 subdirectory of the Windows directory. (on my machine, it wasn’t present). The main EasyPrint.exe file, in the Program Files (x32) folder, also needs to be run in ‘Adminstrator’ mode, so that the preferences can be set for the E180 printer. An SD card was supplied with the printer but with no information about what it actually contained. The file was called bitonga8.gcode and I have subsequently discovered that it creates a largish pot. (I think bitonga is Chinese for pen-holder) Not quite what I wanted but it provided somewhere to start. There is a real need for a simple guide to starting out with a printer like this but it would be presumptuous of me to attempt to write up my findings in detail, before I have gained a lot more experience. The following are a summary of my findings, so far. Setting up the Printer The first task is to level the print bed and I found some 'YouTube' videos, which demonstrated that their authors didn’t really understand the machine either! I worked out that one starts with the central point on the ‘levelling’ display (called position 5) and uses the up/down buttons on the touch screen, to adjust the height of the printer head until it just grabs a sheet of paper laid on the bed. It was not immediately obvious that the height can be varied in either 0.5 mm or 0.05 mm steps, to achieve the required result. After that, the print head can be moved to the four corners of the bed in turn and small screws (initially hidden under the cutting mat) have to be turned until the paper is ‘grabbed’ by the same amount as at the centre. By going around the four corners a couple of times, I found it quite easy to get an even ‘feel’ at all these pre-set locations. The next task is to feed the filament to the print head. There is a small lever under the feed mechanism (not mentioned in instructions) that releases the grip and allows the thread to be pushed by hand along a clear PTFE tube to the ‘hot end’, which carries the actually extruder. Some cryptic symbols on the display allow the filament to be ‘motored’ forwards or back very slowly. Starting a Print Now, with the filament in position and the SD card (containing the model file) inserted, a press of the print button allows the file to be selected, when fans start whirring and the print head moves to the start position. Almost at once, filament starts to be laid down on the bed and, very slowly, layers begin to build. The display shows an estimated time to completion and, for the sample file, this was around 23 hours! I watched for a while and then, after the first few layers, the model detached itself from the bed. Obviously, still quite a lot to be learned! One of the child-friendly features of this printer is there there is no heated bed and the hot end has a maximum temperature of 200°C, although all the easily touchable parts remain cool. This limits the type of filament that can be used to PLA but does mean that there are no unpleasant fumes emitted while the machine is working. Choosing a Model I decided to look on the web for some STL models that were of greater interest to me and also substantially smaller than the example provided on the SD card. I found several railway-related models on the Cults website (https://cults3d.com/en/collections/stl-file-train) and chose a free version of Thomas the Tank Engine for my next trial. I loaded the thomas_body.STL file into EasyPrint, rotated and centred the model within the 3D box (set up for the E180 printer – which is not the default, as I quickly discovered). Then I pressed the ‘slicer’ option to generate the .GCO file, which I saved onto the mini-SD card. (I have an adapter, to use this card with my regular SD card reader/writer) Completing a Print Once the SD card was in the printer, I pressed the ‘print’ button on the touch screen and the machine whirred into action. It estimated that the job would take about 4 hours. All started well but then after the first couple of layers, the model again came loose on the bed, so I stopped the printing. I decided to apply a little Pritt Stick glue to the bed, to improved adhesion, and started again. This time all went well! Because I was impatient to see how the printing would progress, I used the controls to accelerate the print speed to 150% and the sat back to watch progress. After about an hour, the model was building up nicely and I invited my wife to come and watch the process in action. Unfortunately, I then managed to knock the power lead out of the printer, which promptly shut down. One of the claimed features of this printer is its ability to recover from a power failure. So, after restoring the power, I hit the ‘resume’ button. Something went wrong, because the top of the model became displaced from the lower part by about 3 mm along the length axis. It may have been ‘finger trouble’ on the touch screen but I need to investigate further and make sure that all the plugs are firmly attached in future. Anyway, it got here in the end, with a somewhat mis-shapen model The surface finish seemed quite rough, especially on the curved surfaces and the chimney came out a rather odd shape (far from round) but I don’t know if this was due to shortcomings in the model or in the printer. There were also several stray lengths of fine filament, bridging different parts of the model. I was surprised by how ‘solid’ the model was, with a completely filled body of honeycomb structure. Next Steps I am hoping that experience will enable me to make improvements but I am satisfied that the machine does work, albeit with some teething troubles. There are plenty of selections for varying parameters such as hot-end temperature and speed, so I will try more experiments. I think this machine should be capable of making small parts of complex shapes quite quickly and easily. The greatest difficulty will lie in creating the 3D models themselves on the computer but I shall take this in easy stages – one step at a time. I am planning to try out the Fusion 360 software, which is currently being offered free for non-commercial use. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Something has to be done with my languishing Churchill project this year. The trouble is I am going of the idea of having a through station and don`t relish the work to make two fiddle yards at either end. I`m leaning towards changing it all to a GWR country terminus complete with an Engine shed so that I can keep it all in the shed and just play trains whenever I feel like it. And of course start another layout project afterwards. The signal box is based on St Mary`s Crossing The main buildings are based on Portesham in Dorset... Do I go for it ?? just the Engine shed and cattle dock to complete. And of course a new platform........ Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

It is fair to say that the North British Locomotive Company's attempt to move into the brave new world of modern traction was an ignominious failure. After six decades as one of the leading locomotive builders in Britain it attempted to move into the diesel era via a licencing deal with MAN of Germany; but the results of this push can be classified into two groups - failures and complete failures. NBL folded in April 1962 under the resultant weight of warranty claims and lack of new orders, its financial position being made even worse by a commercial policy of selling the Pilot Scheme batches at a loss to buy a place in the new era. Which of NBL's four classes of diesels - TOPS classes 16, 21, 22, and 41 - was worst is debatable. A sufficient commentary is that 3 of the 4 classes were eliminated immediately by the National Traction Plan in 1968, and the Class 22 "Baby Warships" succumbed in 1971. Since the latter were still in original form and were further doomed by being hydraulics, they were arguably the best of the bunch. 20 of the Class 21s were rebuilt with new more powerful Paxman engines in the mid 1960s and became Class 29 , but even that was not enough to save them , and all had gone by the end of 1971 Only classes 21 and 22 proceeded beyond a pilot batch. 58 Type 2 NBL diesel-electric lemons (designated Class 21 under TOPS) were built between 1958 and 1960, and as early as March 1960 most of the ER allocation was being stored unserviceable at Peterborough. The entire class was banished to Scotland a month later, on the theory it would be quicker and easier to send them back to NBL under warranty from a Glasgow shed (amid speculation that the BTC was in fact trying to hide the debacle from the London-based national press) but NBL's collapse two years later put an end to that idea. Locomotives were being stored unserviceable as early as 1964, and some of them may never have turned a wheel again, being sent directly to the scrapyard from store. It seems to have been ScR practice to send them out on trains double-headed in the hope that at least one of the locomotives would still be working when they finished their diagrammed day's work. It is therefore arguable that Class 21 constitute the worst design of diesel locomotive ever to go into volume production. Bad as the Type 1 locos of Class 16 were, there were only 10 of them, and they lived out their short lives at Stratford. Some of the Class 21s may have had service lives of as little as 4 years before they were stored; and there is no parallel to their mass withdrawal and exile to Scotland in 1960 I've always been intrigued by these locos ever since Hornby introduced their "Class 29" in the late 1970s. This was a strikingly ugly loco, and a fascinatingly obscure one , and when Ravenser Mk1 was struggling to find a small mainline diesel that would work one turned up in my local modelshop second hand for not much money and I bought it. I subsequently detailed and repainted it as a Class 29 and getting the thing converted to DCC is now high on the agenda. I also acquired a second battered body for £2 at some point, followed by a chassis frame,and power bogie Those went to my Baby Deltic project - but with that complete the possibility of a second compact Type 2 for Blacklade's illicit "steam period" began to stir The "funny trains" period on Blacklade is nominally set c1958. We may imagine that an NBL Type 2 has been sent to BR's principal diesel-loco building works for evaluation trials to find out what is wrong with the thing. These trials can quite plausibly bring it to Blacklade on short trains (Since Blacklade and Hallamshire replace Derby and Derbyshire , Derby Works doesn't exist under this scheme of things, and the MR's locomotive works is now at Toton. As there is a regular Nottingham/Blacklade service, the appearance of an NBL Type 2 hauling 2 Midland suburban coaches is perfectly plausible.) Dapol are bringing out a new high-spec 21/29 any year now. When it finally appears it will cost at least £150 - and I don't want a Class 21 that much. So this is an exercise in a fun loco on the cheap. For a power plant, I bought a second hand Hornby Class 25 at Warley. This will provide a 5 pole all-wheel pickup Ringfield motor bogie , and the Hornby body can be donated to a "high-spec 25/1" project I have a Class 29 chassis frame and weight from Peter's Spares and a pair of Class 29 trailing bogies - the second will donate a bogie frame to the motor bogie. Detailing bits come mostly from the scrap box - an A1 Models roof fan etch, another A1 pack giving cab-end detailing etches. These are supplemented by some very nice etched nickel-silver etches for cab windows from Shawplan. (A tip from C.A.T.Ford on the stand at Warley) Progress to date is shown here: The biggest problems with the Hornby model are in the cab front. They modelled a weird arrangement, with a Class 29 headcode box overlying nose doors - I can only believe that someone was working off an NBL drawing amended to show revised arrangements. For a Class 21 the headcode box must go - A1 provided a replacement etched nose door and etched discs. And the transformation provided by the Shawplan etch for NBL cab windows is dramatic . I have deliberately photographed the end where I haven't finished filing out one window so you can see what I've done. Getting these in place with superglue - and making sure they stay in place during filing - is a little awkward. One buffer head was missing - I've fitted replacement turned brass buffer heads from an A1 Models buffer beam detailing pack. I really had no other obvious use for these. This is about as far as I am taking the bodyshell . I know someone did an extensive conversion building up the nose and reprofiling it. I'm not really sure what was involved and I'm keeping it simple and leaving the basic shell as it is. Hornby modelled the original form of the main radiator grills - rapidly replaced by a squarish grill .I do have a set of replacement A1 Models etched grills, but as I am modelling a Pilot Scheme batch loco in 1959, I shall be leaving these grills alone. As an original condition ER loco, livery would have been plain green - which is easy enough to do with a spray can. The Baby Deltic proved to stall in some places on the layout - no doubt due to its deep flanges fouling lumps of ballast or chairs on code 70 bullhead. I've managed to remove projecting bits of ballast in several places , which has resulted in a partial cure. But (as noted elsewhere) I've developed a further fix - replace the chunky Hornby wheels in the trailing bogie with Bachmann coach wheels with their pin-points sawn off with a piercing saw. I still have to give the Baby Deltic a test run to see how much of an improvement this gives, but the theory is that if only one end of the loco is vulnerable to grounding then there should always be a supply of power to avoid stalling. (I also suspect that - as with other defects - once the underlying issue is found by a vulnerable loco and tackled I'll see better running from other items of stock , which were just about coping with it) The NBL Type 2 will be fitted with Bachmann wheels on the trailing bogie, and I bought a substantial DCC stay-alive along with a suitable decoder at Warley - I'm hoping this will result in a smooth-running and reliable loco. I'm aware the Hornby model sits to high. But as I can't see any obvious easy way to fix this , I'm intending to leave this issue alone I'm very pleased with the relatively quick and painless progress made to date. This should be a distinct cut above the 29 I detailed nearly twenty years ago Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

The corner of the room has two baseboards, one which will feature a scenic area with the mill and the other, much narrower board, for the fiddle-yard. These two boards don't have the space for the curve which leads into the fiddle-yard because this needs to be removable so that the 'crew lounge' can be used as a bed when we have guests. The resulting extra board is a bit of an odd shape caused by a desire for the rails to cross at right-angles to the the baseboard edge and for the permanent boards to not have too many 'sticky out bits' to catch yourself on while sleeping! The very narrow parts of the board, where the track is very close to the edge on the left is 'off-scene' and will have a wall to prevent anything falling off into the drink. Once in position I was pleased that the cork which I marked from the Templot drawing fitted correctly, I am down to a 3'4" radius curve at this point so didn't have much room to make it tighter if I'd needed too. The cork got stuck down and the sleepers are now in place. I need to get some more rail from C&L at Stevenage tomorrow so obviously he won't have any in stock (just guessing). I had a bit of a play in Templot to see how the mill siding would look if I put in a head-shunt. I can get one in though the point is quite tight ( A4.5 Y). The radius isn't too bad so I think it would be ok. The real advantage is that this would allow wagons in the sidings to be shunted without fouling the mainline and I could use a small industrial locomotive. This could hide in the headshunt while the mainline locomotive exchanged wagons. The mill buildings I constructed based on Ebridge in Norfolk look quite nice, I will probably extend the hideous asbestos part just to avoid them being too twee. The Barclay fireless rather looks the part with a pair of grain tanks. I think I might put in a wagon turntable on the siding away from the building which then crosses the line next to the building to disappear between the two bits of mill to a boiler house behind. That way the buildings don't need the clearance for a rotating wagon and the siding between the two buildings can be tight. So, I'm pleased with the progress, hopefully I should get the track into the fiddle-yard laid next week. Then I need to work on the lifting section over the door before I can got round and round. David Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

Underneath my Blagdon layout is another smaller baseboard with a representation of Westbrook station on the Golden Valley Railway. This prosaically named branch has always appealed to me and some years ago I laid the track and started the scenery for a model of Westbrook. Wanting a change from constructing locos and coaches I had a go at resurrecting this. I firstly stripped all the scenery off and cut the baseboard so that it follows the line of the track only. My intention was to mount this on a frame with the infill (the scenery) made from expanded polystyrene. My aim has been to reduce the weight without sacrificing the rigidty required for the track which still has a MDF base. I was dismayed to discover that the track had buckled in places so had to repair this. The running line through Westbrook was chaired track but the siding still retained the original flat bottom track. This is something very characteristic of many stations. I also rewired the track and fitted the socket for the controllers that I now use. The track was I think SMP EM gauge flexitrack with the point on the running line made from their components which use separate chairs. The siding was constructed from flat bottom track soldered to PCB sleepers. I repainted the track and generally improved its' appearance as best I could. I made a far more substantial platform from ply rather than the Plastikard I used initially. Having done this it was time to look at the station building, an attractive stone structure. Fortunately the book on the branch written by W H Smith includes a plan of the building. This, incidentally, is a very interesting book as the principal driver on the line kept a diary and was quite a keen photographer. The day to day operations of branch lines are rarely recorded but the book quotes extensively from the diary giving a real sense of how this long forgotten outpost of the GWR was run. The station building was constructed from Plastikard with the embossed stone facing. This seemed to match very closely the size and layout of stones used on the actual building. An additional complication was the quoins at the corner which, according to the plan, were of different sizes. The quoins on my model are also of different sizes but that was not the intention. The note on the plan was my get out clause! The walls of the building are several layers of Plastikard as the original building I made many years ago warped badly. The windows and doors were constructed as sub-assemblies fixed to the inside of the walls when completed. The big problem I could see was the roof. I consulted the Stephen Williams book on GWR Branch Line modelling and for slate roofs he suggested using thin writing paper cut to the size of each slate (the book helpfully gives the sizes of the slates most commonly used). I couldn't get on with using paper so substituted very thin Plastikard which of course fixes better. Cutting the slates is far harder that it seems as whatever size of slate is used, every slate has to be the same size. As, with all tiling, the slate / tiles overlap the join of those underneath and if the width is even fractionally out that overlap will be lost. Knowing that I was going to have to cut several hundred tiles (this is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby?) and realising that my older eyes weren't up to the job I fashioned a simple jig using a redundant frame spacer and two pieces of scrap etch. The frame spacer is bent up, the upturned sction will be the surface against which the strip of Plastikard is pushed against. A piece of the scrap is soldered to the base of the frame spacer against the upturned edge and at right angles to it; the edge of the Plastikard strip bears against this. To this piece is soldered, at right angles, a further strip of scratch etch parallel to the upturned surface of the frame spacer. This last piece of metal is the edge against which the strip is cut. The Plasikard strip goes under this last piece of metal and bears against both the upturned edge of the frame spacer and the scrap etch at right angles to it. All I have to do is cut along the last piece of metal, flick the cut piece out of the way and push the strip along ready for the next cut. So far it's worked really well. The height of the slates (the width of the strip) is less important as any discrepancies are hidden under the overlapping slates. I've described this in some detail as I think others may find it useful. Moulded sheets do not capture the appearance of slates at all. The photo of the station building also shows the jig I used for the slates. I haven't yet painted the walls and found that my tin of GWR Light Stone had gone off. The Dark Stone was a little better and as there isn't much woodwork to be painted I persevered with this; the Light Stone to be added once I get a nfresh tin of it. There is a lot of comment about the exact shade used but it's worth remembering that the colours were made by mixing burnt sienna pigment into white lead paint on the job. A colour card was provided (the HMRS guide includes a colour chart matched to Swindon records) but you can imagine how the foreman's sensitivity to colour, the lighting at the time and the dirt on the card can all affect the final shade. As the HMRS guide points out, there were doubtless times when the card was lost altogether. I'll update readers of further progress with the layout. I have also been working on trackwork building four turnouts for a potentially better model of Blagdon. These use wooden sleepers with rivets and Code 75FB rail Whilst the sleepers look realistic I'm not convinced that it's a quantum leap in overall appearance over PCB. I've also ignored some of the accepted practices of turnout construction and encountered a few problems arising from the use of FB rather than bullhead track. What I can say is that initial running tests show rolling stock passes very smoothly over the completed turnouts. If there is interest I can describe how I constructed these turnouts. Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

<p>In order to get on with the finishing touches on the layout I either need PVA (awaiting delivery) or to do woodwork (not exactly possible at 10 at night with two small children in the house.)<br />So I am having a play at another long term project that I would like to finish this year, my intention being that by Easter when I can realistically start spraying again I will have this and the TPO ready for painting.</p><p> </p><p>The aim is to model the Paddington to Penzance sleeper circa 1998, as with the TPO part of the logic with this is another then and now comparison with a very long term project to build the same formation in 1947 guise for Brent.</p><p> </p><p>Research on the forum and elsewhere has narrowed down the formation: Monday to Thursday it consisted of a Class 47/8, Mk2D BSO, MK2D TSO (a declasified first), Mk2E FOt, then 3 mk3 sleepers (with a forth added on Fridays) and finally a mk1 BG. Working from a video of a real working from 1998, the plan is to have the mk2s in faded Intercity livery, the first and last mk3 in Intercity and the middle mk3 in Great Western Trains (which has already been finished). <a href='http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/47191-great-western-merlin-sleeper/%C2%A0'class='bbc_url' title=''>http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/47191-great-western-merlin-sleeper/</a></p><p> </p><p>After giving some thought to modifying Hornby mk2E coaches into the required 2Ds, I have settled to making use of the coaches I already have for the moment at least. (A large box of deconstructed Airfix, Dapol and Hornby 2ds that was purchased for this rake (and a daytime GWT service) a long time ago.<br />Eventually I will likely end up replacing them, but for the purposes of the then and now concept (and having a play at 1998 on Brent) the old coaches will do the job.</p><p> </p><p>They will be upgraded to a degree, focusing on the basic shape (the windows / frames I will live with for now). The first task was to remove the roof ribs to get a much fainter line, rubbing down the whole lot with a emery pad. Then the flat sides were attacked with a file to obtain the required tumblehome. The 2E still needs work to convert it into the later design. They now join the remaining two mk3 sleepers in the queue awaiting painting in intercity livery. I am certainly not looking forward to all that masking!</p><p> </p><p><br /><em class='bbc'>A side on view not exactly the best choice to show off a change to the side profile...</em></p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21816]' id='ipb-attach-url-1099536-0-99632100-1547163891' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-54-0-41675000-1547161997.jpeg"title="4D6A2773-2249-4147-A9FA-52692D935DCE.jpeg - Size: 304.98KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-54-0-41675000-1547161997_thumb.jpeg" id='ipb-attach-img-1099536-0-99632100-1547163891' style='width:800;height:800' class='attach' width="800" height="800" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

<p>No explanations for this one, just a photograph. I though I'd see who can guess what techniques and materials were used. There are no step-by-step photographs because I didn't take any!</p><p> </p><p> </p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21815]' id='ipb-attach-url-1099366-0-21369600-1547142723' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-2194-0-08640700-1547140119.jpg"title="IMG_7871_RMweb.JPG - Size: 183.13KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-2194-0-08640700-1547140119_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1099366-0-21369600-1547142723' style='width:800;height:643' class='attach' width="800" height="643" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

<p>No explanations for this one, just a photograph. I though I'd see who can guess what techniques and materials were used. There are no step-by-step photographs because I didn't take any!</p><p> </p><p> </p><div id='attach_wrap' class='rounded clearfix'> <h4>Attached thumbnail(s)</h4> <ul> <li class=''> <a class='resized_img' rel='lightbox[21815]' id='ipb-attach-url-1099366-0-14007800-1547140317' href="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-2194-0-08640700-1547140119.jpg"title="IMG_7871_RMweb.JPG - Size: 183.13KB, Downloads: 0"><img src="http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_01_2019/blogentry-2194-0-08640700-1547140119_thumb.jpg" id='ipb-attach-img-1099366-0-14007800-1547140317' style='width:800;height:643' class='attach' width="800" height="643" alt="Attached Image" /></a> </li> </ul> </div> View the full article

Hello I've been blogging about real-World locations that might good modules or cameos on my own website for a while now and I've recently become very interested in building T-Trak modules. In a nutshell, T-Trak is a set of standards for building very small modules. The standard ‘single’ module is only 308mm wide and 355mm deep. If you model in N scale like I do this means that a ‘single’ module represents about 50m x 57m of the real World. You can find out more about T-Trak here: http://www.t-trak.org/ As it's winter and I lack workshop space I need to be able to build the modules inside the house with simple tools using a strong, light material. Using foamcore board seemed like a solution. Tho only thing is I've built experimental formboard modules/layouts in the past using the kind of foamcore that can be found in the average hobby or art store but I've never been completely satisfied with the results. They tended to warp when damp/wet and the material never seemed as strong as advocates of the method made out. Then I got my hands on some Gatorboard... Gator Board is a heavy-duty foam board. The surface of Gator Board is made from wood pulp mixed with a fibreglass plastic and is advertised as being much tougher than regular foam board. The foam used between the surfaces also seemed to be denser than regular foam board. Now I've put a module together using it I can confirm that Gator Board is definitely much tougher than regular foam board! In the past I've cut foam board cleanly with a couple of passes of a scalpel but a scalpel barely scratched the surface of Gator Board. Using a mount board cutter was a complete failure and I ended up using a Stanley knife. Here's the basic dimensions of a T-Trak single module: The module should be 70mm high. The Gator Board I'm using is 10mm thick so sides are 60mm high and the deck adds 10mm to this to arrive at 70mm high. The modules are 308mm wide and 355mm deep. Front and back faces are fixed inside the side faces so are actually cut 288mm wide. So to create the module I needed: Two side faces 355mm x 60mm. Two front/back faces 288mm x 60mm. One deck (or top surface) 355mm x 308mm. I measured and marked my cuts from the factory cut side of the Gator Board using another small piece to keep my ruler right on the edge of the board. It's hard to visualise so here is a picture: I tried to always keep a factory edge where the small piece of board meets the cutting mat and where the piece being marked meets the small guide piece. I cut the pieces using multiple passes of a Stanley knife (with a fresh blade) using the long ruler that came with my Jakar mountboard cutting kit to guide the blade. As the board is tough even with the rulers rubber backing I needed to apply quite a bit of pressure to keep the ruler in place and the blade cutting straight. Now I may have been trying to force the knife to cut to quickly (probably) but I struggled to end up with a square cuts. Thankfully, this is where the toughness of the Gator Board helped. I was actually able to gently sand any not-quite-square cut edges with sandpaper! To keep my sanding efforts square I wrapped the sandpaper around another piece of Gator Board and tried to keep this flat as possible. It actually worked very well. It was only when putting this posts together that I remembered the facing contains glass fibres so sanding without a mask really isn't a good idea. Don't do what I did, wear a mask if you sand the board. I glued the pieces together with PVA glue (the bottle no longer has a label but I think it's some kind of Tacky glue as it's quite thick). I stated by attaching one of the long side-pieces to the top deck, then an end, then the second side-piece and finally the second end-piece. Once the glue started to setup, I flipped the module over and put it under some weight to finish drying. It's not easy getting everything into position correctly and keeping it there. Trying to do it all in one go did lead to some swearing. There has to be an easier way of doing this and I'll have a think about this before I do this again. While gluing everything together it also became clear that one of my cuts wasn't quite as good as it should have been and there was a small gap where one of the end pieces touched a side piece. I had to inject a little bit of superglue gel into the gap as it was too late to re-cut or shape the edge of the board. Those of you with eagle eyes will also have noticed a dink in the bottom corner of the module already. That's actually from cutting where the knife drops off the edge of the board but it shows that even though Gator Board is much tougher than foam board you still have to be careful. However the final construction feels very robust, much more so than regular foamboard and it's should be able to take quite a bit of weight despite being very light. That's about it. A quick, easy and relatively cheap way to create a T-Trak module. Now all I've got to do is decide what to build on it. Simon Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article

As mentioned in the previous blog, the next project is to try out a sprung chassis. This is partly due to my objective of achieving optimum running. This is the Comet chassis with their hornblocks and springs that I've had in the kit pile for years. It requires a massive leap of faith that the rods will line up with the wheelbase as there is no means of adjusting this unlike with soldered in hornblocks, such as High Level, that I used on the previous 2 Dean Goods. Despite this, I set the chassis up in my jig as usual and have used the latest dodge of Romford wheels on P4 axles to check things. These wheels are undersize but do the job. So far so good. The rear retainers needed quite a lot of fettling otherwise they were too tight to allow the rear hornblocks to move. This loco will have "dummy" inside motion as sold by Brassmasters for their Martin Finney kits. The body work will be mainly leftovers from my Martin Finney Dean Goods kit that I acquired with full working inside motion. I cheated with the Comet chassis by soldering a MF EM gauge front spacer to the front which include the means to attach the inside motion. The eagle-eyed will spot that I have included the front compensation beam and rear holes for beams in case I am not satisfied with the springing and need to revert to compensation. Here are the etches you get. The wires lying around are not included. Here is the front cylinder block and slide bars with bracket to attach to chassis And made up. There are some rather small detailing parts that have been added to this that I doubt will be visible once it's in the loco Here's the whole thing completely assembled and in the chassis retained by a 10BA screw. I've since added the wires for the brake hangers and the chassis is waiting for the paint shop Attached thumbnail(s) View the full article