37114

Very envious of your masking Lee, very crisp lines on such a difficult prototype. Don't envy you doing the whiter lining, I am fed up with it on my MK1 BSO

Very much enjoying the series Phil. The track plan is similar to my own layout and have to say it is great fun to operate so hope you enjoy playing with Ruston Quays.

This just keeps getting better and better, love the weeds on the platform Peter

Great to chat with Jamie today at Cheltenham, it really is a lovely layout.

Lovely job Rob, will be interested to see 37116 when it's finished.

I decided to take the pondering about the extension to another level today and plonked the layout on the workbench with the piece of 2' x 2' ply that is the right size for the baseboard next to it. My initial thoughts were to try and curve the front face of the extension as this provides more frontage to the layout and partly out of necessity as the another 2' x 2' x 2' cube will not fit in the boot of the car. What I hadn't accounted for is that the headshunt on the main part of the layout is actually quite a curve towards the front of the layout and means that by the time the siding curves back towards the layout it is virtually parallel to the front of the layout: I am not a fan of sidings completely parallel to the baseboard edge although I could curve it more towards the centre of the layout. I thought about shortening the siding but I want the loco to be completely on the new board when it couples up otherwise you destroy the illusion of the siding being further down the line from the yard. I also think the short length of the board vs it's depth will create a very cramped look as the viewing angle is a bit to restricted for my liking The upper level can accomodate 2 locos or single car DMU's which would be welcome and provides greater operational scope. As you may have guessed from the above I am having a bit of rethink about if I extend the layout at all or do a different design of extension, I just don't think it works at the moment

I mentioned a few posts ago about adding some more details to the scrap yard so last night I raided the scrap box. Some old pallets form the base of the pallet bins, one has an etch side made from old class 37 frost grilles, the other 2 are solid sided. I have a stash of about 30 pallets somewhere which have gone missing in the garage but I will build a few more in the future. Also I have made a set of scales but need to adjust the base compared to the weighing plate as they are slightly on the twist Also on the go but covered elsewhere is a cut and shut MK1 BSO which is now in the paint shop, can't wait to have this one finished.

I have been undertaking some research tonight for the extension, Andy Kirkhams photo stream has thrown up a partial shot of the united distillers building, I have also found a suitable candidate for a road tanker for the works: https://www.flickr.com/photos/46260602@N02/8103955136/in/photolist-owkdSw-qVatJz-oeSiF6-sDqVsN-xgKBeD-xesDrw-dm7Twq

Thanks both for the comments, I definitely welcome differing points of view as you often you get to a better end result. I agree with Simon that a "tradional" making the board longer would detract from the current layout, so my preferred approach is similar to that described by Alan, in that the 2 boards are separated by the current end panel with a small "mouse hole" to let the lower level line pass through to the new board, very similar to this approach: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/7188984699/in/photolist-bXgqG4-ceCNeU-itnBnP-ceCGTA-ceCQjw-bXgjJR-ceCN9A-bXgjtr-bXgrSi-bXgrWK-ceCFV7-ceCQqA-bXgtGx-bXgstT-ceCPM5-bXgjEe-bXgjBF-ceCQVG-bXgkcT-bXgrZH

I don't think I have ever seen one in the flesh, but I did think it looked quite striking, almost a hint of Karmann Ghia at the back. Thanks Peter, plenty to think over!

All good points Alan, I definitely would make the 2 levels to be controlled inedepentantly. I might struggle with the RC lorry, it might test my reversing skills although I could go with an 8 wheeler rather than an Artic!

Great to see another Bachmann cut and shut project, I look forward to developments.

I had a very enjoyable last Saturday at Chippenham with Peafore Yard, part of the enjoyment was not being shackled to the layout thanks to the help of Alan so I could have a browse. With no more shows until February, it is time to take stock and look at a few jobs that need addressing as well as a few scenic tweaks. First and foremost the point on the upper level is difficult to change, so I will take the back off over the coming weeks and have a look. I think the problem is a combination of some stray ballast near the tie bar and too much slack in the rodding mechanism. One of the things I have struggled with ever since I started building the layout is disguising the exit to the lower level fiddle yard, having pondered pipe bridges, foot bridges etc but never coming up with a convincing solution. As an alternative method I am exploring making it harder to see the exit by fitting some advertising hoardings above the fence by the level crossing. I have space for 2 boards so as with Pallet Lane I have made 1 for a car and 1 for Cigarettes. The latter use images that were intended for Magazines as finding a clear picture of an advert hoarding in colour, at the right angle, not obstructed by a bus is near impossible. For the car ad I have downgraded from the Cortina to a Skoda... The picture above shows the adverts mounted on card to which I have added the ad frame. When dry I will cut off the surplus card and make some supports for the back. After loading up on Saturday I realised I have a little more spare space in the car so started idly drawing a solution to my problem of the upper level head shunt being too short: The inspiration came from what Chris Nevard did with Cement Quay, in building an extension that is effectively a bit further down the line. My thinking is the main line will go behind the building out of site so I can run a single DMU through the station and into the hidden siding, likewise Locos can also come and go off scene. I will also modify the wiring so the 2 levels can be used at the same time (they can't at the moment). On the lower level, the headshunt will be extended into a single siding for Molasses tanks coming to the United Distillers factory. Again this opens up more operational interest as 3 different types of trains can be used. Now the complication is the space in the car is an odd shape which is why the lower corner of my scribblings is shaded out so the board will be an almost triangular shape which will be quite unusual. It will also be less than 2 foot long but the trains were only short so it shouldn't be a problem. The only other thing that could be a problem is the angle of the lower level headshunt to the end of the layout as it is angled out towards the public so I need to work out if it can slew round enough on the new board. It will be a while till I get to the extension but I like to think things over for a while. I am curious what people think, does it work?

Thanks for posting this Nigel, the photo with the parking meter is helpful as I want to make a couple for my layout,

Once you have cut it the fun comes trying to fix it. I have a fair bit of it on Peafore Yard and would suggest gluing it with superglue to the end post, waiting for it to go off, then repeat on the next post while gently stretching it.

Nice modelling, I agree about the shawplan windows for the 37's, they make a massive difference to either the Vi Trains of Bachmann models.

As this weekends show rapidly approaches I am firming up the future exhibition appearances, A couple of changes to the last list, full list is now: Chippenham - 3rd October 2015 Yate - 13th February 2016 Trainwest (Corsham) - 9/10thApril 2016 Thornbury in 19th/20th November 2016 Weston Super Mare - 15th January 2017 Minehead - August 2017 (sadly I have had to move back from 2016 due to family commitments) I am conscious that after 2017 Peafore Yard will have "done" the Bristol area so am looking at opportunities to go further afield for 2018.

Some more recent going ons at Peafore Yard

Thanks Neil, I have put a few on there but will dig out some recent ones.

Looking forward to it Matt, will be good to catch up again.

Thanks Rich, one of the hardest parts of building this layout is avoiding the layout being too crowded. I saw Andy Y's photos on Friday and have to say he has done a cracking job capturing the details much better than I can do with my little camera. A number of people said to me at Barnstaple they didn't realise how small a layout it is. Thanks, much appreciated.

I recently bought my first transfers from Railtec for some parkside 21t hoppers and have to say I was very impressed with the speed of service and also how quickly the transfers themselves came off the backing paper in the water, a real boon when you have 9 wagons to do!

The extension is shaping up well Adrian, I will be interested to see your bufferstops when complete as I am thinking of a similar upgrade.

Thanks Alan it was good fun, glad you enjoyed it. You did a good job with the 3 links, I am planning on putting a light in the fiddle yard to help as well.

In readiness for the Chippenham show, tonight's "Ale and Modelling" session focussed on some tweaks to the layout and enabling Alan to get fully familiarised with the layout and 3 links, while Dave did some scenic work at the edges of the waste ground. I also wanted to test 08950 and 25191 which has had some work done as the snowploughs were catching in places: 25191 on test: Dave watches while Alan shunts the class 25 37029 gets a run