37114

Sorry Rob, I got my eyes crossed and thought it was a comment from Neil (Downendian)! Long day and not too much sleep!

Hi Rob It is ok, you can use the existing code 75 rail insulated rail joiners but on most sidings I have left them off and just rely on the gap in the rail. In terms of soldering the dropers I have had to do it to the side of the rail. The fishplate style little rail joiners are a nightmare to fit.... As I have wired it for cab control most parts of the track are independently fed

Thanks Chris, much appreciated, hopefully more progress will be made this weekend.

Brilliant, Thanks Tim, those really help with some of the detail. The building in the first picture to the left of the water tower will be on the to-do list to hide the control panel on the layout (which is proving to be a bit of a headache). I also like the look of the upper half of the signal box which would make a nice challenge.

The skip wagon model is on hand already (since weathered), there were 2 so another is planned:

I think you are right Kevin, I think it might even be ADS 70185, looking at this photo the rust marks on the end are the same: http://www.departmentals.com/photo/70185 Should be an interesting kit bash and I have some spare MK1 bits in the box to get the profile right as well.

Thanks Tim, that is a great picture. The wagon full of gas bottles is interesting, I presume due to lack of road access they arrived on the wagon like that. Can anybody ID the carriage between the skip wagon and the Lowfit, is it some sort of steam heat generator van please?

Nice work, I will follow with interest as I am doing the same project and got my 31 running this morning: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/127271-parsons-vale-carriage-sidings-37114s-new-00-br-blue-layout/page-4&do=findComment&comment=3081472

Woke up early this morning so have been making some more progress on the class 31. Before I go too far on the body, I wanted to get the chassis up and running. The non motor bogie end from the Lima chassis needed chopping out for the bogie gear tower. I am reusing the cab interiors from the Hornby model which means some modification to the chassis, which was strengthened with some plasticard: A mounting bracket was made to enable the bogie to be fixed to the Lima chassis. The white plasticard bearer is fixed under the chassis but is not visible when the body is in place. The positioning needs to be accurate as the Lima Chassis is slightly shorter by 1mm than the Hornby one and clearance is tight anyway. The chassis is obviously much lighter than the old Hornby one so the underframe tanks were rammed with lead to give the model some much needed weight: The lead was covered over with plasticard and the motor temporarily put in place. I ended up securing this with adhesive backed velcro which is strong enough to secure the motor but enables it to be removed for servicing if required. I soldered the wires up as I don't have DCC and most of my other fleet is not fitted with lights so it keeps the wiring simpler. To test it all works I gave it a run on the layout which is still to be fully wired. The bodyshell is in early stages of having the work done, with the roof grille and radiator grille removed ready for replacement with etched versions.

Looking great Andy, will try and shuffle things around and get up to Cheltenham

It is a well known fact that in the event of a Nuclear explosion only cockroaches and class 37's would survive....

The loco fleet has been having a bit of a change around of late with some of the Peafore Yard stalwarts venturing on to ebay, with 03121, 03382, 24081 and 40135 currently up for sale to make way for the recent class 31 and 50 additions. I will be sad to see those 4 go but the SLW class 24 in particular is just not suited to the new layout. I was hoping that the class 50 would be straightforward renumber and weather but not being a huge fan of the class, it wasn't until I read the "Trethosa" thread that I realised how much work the Hornby class 50 needs, particularly the roof and cab windscreens. I have ordered the bits but the loco will be on the backburner for a few weeks The other new addition is this collection of class 30 and 31 parts. The plan is simple. Strip out the Lima Motor bogies (done), detail and respray the body, convert to a class 31 , replace with the Hornby 31 mechanism, bin or sell what is left: This is what is kept from the Hornby 31: This example of the Hornby block is the worst I have seen and disintegrated on removing the motor: The Lima battery boxes are removed and replaced with the Hornby moulding which is a better job: The next task is to cut some holes in the chassis for the original non motored end which I will do this week

I started work on my second Hornby/Lima hybrid today. I am integrating the Hornby mech into the Lima chassis. I will post more photos on my layout thread but the photos below show how brittle the chassis become: The raw materials: This 31270 was one of the worst I have seen as there was evidence of cracking through out the block: On removing the motor from the block (with minimal force) this happened: This doesn't bode well for my original hybrid which utilises the Hornby centre section of the chassis. At some "sooner rather than later" time this will need to be replaced I

Quick question for those who have fitted them, how easy are the PHD grilles to make up? They look great but look incredibly fiddly?

Seems to be bad in Hampshire, one of the guys who works for me took 2.5 hours to get from Chandlers Ford to central Southampton..

Caught the 05:54 ex Chippenham to Padd this morning, got there ok but station was like skating rink. Sure enough they closed it 40 mins later... Luckily reopened now and back home all ok. Phew!!!

Sure, the photo also shows the latest progress with the houses on the backscene as well:

Aah, I never heard that one Chris, must have been a good 30 years ago or so I presume? The first train ran last night as I have now soldered up the droppers, 08950 did the honours

Lovely layout Dave, yet again another corker!

The 2 class 03's from Peafore Yard are now looking for a new home as they are surplus to requirements from Parsons Vale sidings, and I am unlikely to model Avon Street again!: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=0&_udlo=&_udhi=&_ftrt=901&_ftrv=1&_sabdlo=&_sabdhi=&_samilow=&_samihi=&_sadis=15&_stpos=SN13+9AP&_sargn=-1%26saslc%3D1&_salic=3&_fss=1&_fsradio=%26LH_SpecificSeller%3D1&_saslop=1&_sasl=robowst&_sop=12&_dmd=1&_ipg=50

Sad news, I had planned to buy a split box class 37 from JLTRT in the next couple of years. The Heljan model is nowhere near as good as the JLTRT model and costs not much less unfortunately..

Thanks Adrian, I probably will at some point build a VR but they would have been the 2 door variant with centre staircase which is quite a hatchet/respray job and will have to wait until the layout is finished. Aesthetically I always preferred the bustle fitted Atlantean and Fleetline and I regularly saw HHF15 on my way to school so always had more affinity to it than the VR. It always stood out as at the time (early 90's) it was pretty rare to see any decker other than Badgerline/Cityline fleet in South Bristol

Finally finished the bus this morning (final weathering and driver to follow):

Thanks, I am just doing bits and pieces, the main focus this year is finishing the Land Rover, next year will see a lot more work on the layout, especially if Geoff wants it for Calne 2020...

I have made some recent progress with the layout albeit at a snails pace due to other commitments. A start has been made on the wiring with the switches installed in the control panel. The layout will be wired for cab control so that 2 trains can be moved at once although this does add in it's own complications it will make exhibiting at shows easier when there are 2 of us as well as certain shunting moves will be more straightforward. I have also added the dropper wires for most of the layout but have run out of wire so have ground to a halt there. Further work has been done on the scenery, I have sanded the original layer of polyfilla and then added a second layer, particularly to the gardens at the front of the layout as the change of gradient was rather pronounce and left the gardens with an unnaturally flat surface. The cliche bus on the bridge is finished now as well.