37114

Indeed, the bank statement that landed yesterday was a bit of a shock, especially as my 2 Invicta/Bachmann CCT's have arrived.

Hi Rich, Yes I think so, I can move them by finger through the hole just visible at the top of the picture but it is awkward so I will put another rod from the switch, which will be flush with the front of the baseboard when the rod is pushed in. I intend to put a hinged cover on the front that folds up for Transport in the car and protects the front of the layout, but can be folded down out of the way for use at the shows.

Some years ago I had 80 wagons behind a Bachmann 47 on a large roundy roundy layout before it lost traction, then added another 47 on front which took us to 136 wagons before the derailments started, so would suggest the 6 class 20's would out pull a single class 20.

Visible progress on the layout has slowed over the last few weeks due to other commitments unfortunately. The track has had a liberal coating of sleeper grime and the sides of the rails painted with Humbrol acrylic no26, but the main focus has been the point control system. I decided some time ago that I would use a manual point control to save wiring and also I had concerns how the points would stand up to standard SEEP/Peco motors and the baseboard side rails aren't deep enough for tortoise motors. There was the added complication of a latching mechanism and polarity change switch for the frogs. Having inspected various layouts I decided that piano wire linked to slide switches would be a good solution, my biggest issue was trying to get a switch with a small enough throw as the point blade movement is around 2mm side to side. The switches I used came from Maplin and have a 5mm throw, significantly more than I needed but the beauty of the piano wire was the inherent flex, especially in the vertical section that passes through the board. I also included a "Z" shape in the wire for adjustment. The wire is secured through aluminium brackets and touch wood works fine so far. I have loosely wired up the points for testing purposes but will solder all the joints and secure the wires properly shortly.

Thanks Rich, it came about almost by accident as I wanted a large building to hide the control panel behind, my original plan being to model part of the Post Office sorting office and use the overhead conveyor to the station platforms as a bridge to disguise the lower level exit into the fiddle yard. When it dawned on me how small the space was and that the conveyor would be halfway up the backscene then I changed tack to the current building.

Indeed although 03121 is due to appear shortly as I renumbered my blue 03 last night, still needs weathering though!

Steady progress of late, predominantly painting and weathering of various structures and also some of the vehicles for the scrapyard. Making scrap cars look convincing is a little difficult as diecast models are not easily dissected, however looking at some photos of scrapyards in the 1977 has proved useful, seemingly most cars had their wheels removed so have chose to replicate that trend which requires scratch-built break drums. I always find it useful at various points in layout builds to set out some stock and building on hand to check all is coming together as planned, so far so good, plenty still to do in time for next April though.

Will definitely follow this, looks like it will be a cracking layout.

Before I progress too much further with scenic work and track I wanted to paint the base colour of the backscene. I initially chose Dulux "Marine Mist" which looked the right colour in the bright lights of the B&Q store but when applied to the layout was much too blue, the colour being very similar to that of the Lorry in my avatar picture, where as I wanted a slightly more pale colour. I had some "blueberry white" left in the paint stash from when we decorated our bedroom so applied that tonight which I am much happier with. I will wait till I can view it in more natural light to see if it stays or I try another colour While the paint was drying I decided to progress some of the buildings for the layout. I have built a Wills weighbridge hut for the scrap yard and a ratio platelayers hut to be used as a store room at the cement sidings. One of the things I have done differently with the brick and stone work on this layout is use a wider palette of colours for weathering and painting, with up to 7 being used on the huts alone which I think gives a more realistic appearance than on Pallet Lane where only 3 or 4 may have been used. The Redscaff building now has a roof, a few more details to add then a coat of primer to show up the blemishes. The cement silo has also been given some attention as I have managed to get hold of a good photo of the Barnstaple Silo courtesy of Simon Castens (proprietor of the Titfield Thunderbolt bookshop). While purchasing a copy of the Kevin Derrick class 24/25 book Simon gave me a postcard of a class 25 at Exeter which had a similar Silo and in conversation Simon mentioned he had a good shot of the Barnstaple Silo. The photo highlighted how the detail on the Hornby silo is either lacking or a tad crude, so I have added plate work detail (as the silos appear to be made from sections) as well as some extra pipework. Still to follow are replacement ladders although this are proving problematic as while etched ladders are easy to get hold off I am struggling to find a supplier for the safety cages.

Mousa models do an etched pack of 4, I got mine from Eileens emporium

Lovely layout, will follow with interest.

Major progress over the last 3 nights and pleased to report that Peafore Yard now has track! Not only that but the first train has run on the layout as I have put the droppers in place and managed to connect them up to the controller borrowed form Pallet Lane. Most of the track has been tested with 37009 and 03382 doing the honours. The testing revealed that to my joy/relief 2 of my hand built points worked out of the box although the 3rd required some surgery as the gauge was too narrow at the frog end for some reason, so frustratingly I decided to lift it to replace the offending sleepers/chairs to the correct gauge. I am not sure why this didn't show up on my bench testing but this has now been fixed and briefly tested back in situ. Although not one for the purists, I have used rail joiners for reliability sake, sleepers will be put in underneath them and chairs added to disguise them. While I am keen to push for realism, I am not prepared to compromise on reliability and I felt it a risk too far at this stage not to use them. I will probably try to not use them on the upper level where there are less joints and less traffic.

Colas have 116,175,219 and 421

Just to follow on from the above, 37197 is scrapped, the 37/7s they have are 37703,14,16,18. 37419 is missing from the operational list.

The class 40 is a lovely piece of work Peter, great work as ever.

My new layout Peafore Yard still under construction is set in 1977: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/82744-peafore-yard-37114s-new-4mm-br-blue-layout/

I have been busy shopping recently courtesy of ebay and RailWells (fab show!) and now have a cement silo for the yard and a corgi coles crane for the scrap yard. My trip to RailWells reminded me I had promised the Cheltenham web master a photo for the webpage, a some what difficult task at the moment due to the layouts bare state. To remedy that and to help me visualise the layout now some scenery is appearing I grabbed some stock and tried some close up shots on the bits that do have some scenery (see below). I have also taken the plunge and used the woodlands scenic realist water for the culvert. It took 2 pours to get the right depth but I am pleased with the results and glad I chose it over PVA. The Redscaff building is now clad, the building actually uses material which I used to scratchbuild some buildings for Pallet Lane but I wasn't happy with the end result so the buildings were scrapped and the material set aside for a future project, 15 years later they have finally been put to use.. The building stick lacks a roof but I am happy with the results so far

One of the niggles I had with Pallet Lane was that the fascias were separate and required assembly/disassembly each show. The system used gallows brackets (at least 1 per board) and associated pins, which took time to set up and were nearly forgotten when packing for a show. The lights were fixed to the back of the fascia's and were vulnerable to breakage (although this actually never happened by some miracle) so with Peafore Yard being a single board I decided to make the fascia's integral, with a fold up cover to protect the layout in transit Up until now Peafore Yard has only been boxed in on 2 sides, the back and the left hand side as you look at the layout which was becoming an issue as the layout hasn't been well protected, especially with the scenery now being worked on. So having tidied the garage I set too making the remaining 2 sides, the front being 6 mm ply, the sides and back being MDF. I had always fancied making a proper proscenium arch frontage where viewers look into the layout so the viewing window is 7cm narrower each side than the layout. There is also a small lip at the bottom to protect the edge of the scenery. I always prefer layouts to be boxed in although I know this not to everybodies taste, I think the end result is quite effective. The right hand side required the holes cut in it for the tracks to go into the fiddle yard for the 2 levels, while a 3rd hole sits behind the Redscaff building for the control panel:

Mammoth modelling session tonight, still no track though. For some reason I can't seem to move the text after the photos so they are all at the bottom, any ideas? First up I have installed the cobbles for the small section of road on the Left hand corner of the layout. This is packed up so the cobbles are level with the top of the rails, assuming the running line once carried on over a level crossing, although the level crossing would be off scene. The red strip in the first photo will be the edging for the pavement as many of the pavements near the cobble streets in Bristol have a raised iron kerb with Tarmac pavement so I have copied this on the layout Also I have started on the raising the ground level for the cement terminal, photo mount card bought on mass from the Wiltshire scrap store being used in this case, second photo shows a general view of the layout with it in place I have started the framework for the Redscaff building mentioned on page 1, which the third photo show being a rather tall structure. This works for me for 2 reasons: i) It will be the scenic break from the fiddleyard so the bigger the better ii) The small electrical control panel will be mounted inside, accessed from the fiddle yard. This will be clad in corrugated iron cladding but modelled with the doors shut The fourth and fifth photos show the work on the wasteland. I had some leftover painted brick off cuts so decided to make the corner of the demolished building. I have never done this before but seeing something similar on PCM's Llanbourne layout I thought I would give it a go. The bricks were cut off at random steps and then 2 pieces glued back to back. The off cut bricks were separated and the edges painted with mortar colour then glued about the site. I cut a straight line from the plaster in line with the wall and painted it grey to make it look like the building was once bigger. The scenery then had more clumps tall grass added. I have also started forming the remains of a recent fire on the site. Plenty more to do though!

Thanks, the model I have of the more common Scammell version will also migrate on to Peafore Yard, they were everywhere when I was a kid!

Good point Adrian, I will hopefully remedy the situation over the weekend with some track laying in the yard!

I have had a bit of a push recently on the layout having enlisted the help of my friend Dave Spencer on some of the ground cover scenics, an area Dave enjoys. The river bed has been the area of focus to enable track laying to commence as the culvert would not be accessible with both bridges finished. The culvert was created as thus: - Polystyrene carved to shape to form the banks - Small paper strips soaked in dilute 50/50 PVA/water then laid over the polystyrene to form a hard shell - 2 thin coats of plaster applied on top and allowed to go hard - Brown paint courtesy of tester pot my wife had bought for a feature wall in the lounge. River bed brown wasn't to either of our tastes so the layout was the lucky benefactor. The banks are still work in progress and as yet I am undecided on whether to use woodland scenic's scenic water or PVA for the culvert water base (views/experiences welcome?). The plastic lid in view in the pics has been filled with some PVA to see if it dries clear. The area to the right of the river bed is waste land which will have further rubbish, old bricks and an old car or 2 added to it. I had toyed with putting a factory building here but it would have blocked the view of the trains coming off the level crossing so thought it would be easier to add in the future if required. The arches have been coming on, the brick work has been painted and I am now in the process of buiding the arch roofs for the 3 arches to the right of the river that will be open. Below are some pics after tonights work, thanks for all the "Likes" & "Craftsmanships" so far.

Lovely layout, can't believe I have not seen this thread before now.

My own Series 3 has quite decent steering having been rebuilt over the years, still on cross ply's so cornering is a rather slow affair. I did buy another series 3 unseen of ebay in London which had half a turn of free play (no exaggeration), I nearly drove straight over the first round about I came to. The trip back to Bristol on the M4 was interesting, not least when the petrol tank leaked some of it's contents at Membury services as the top of it had a huge hole and the petrol pump never cut out!

I have wanted a couple of these for a while and will probably buy even if they are £35, simple reasoning being by the time I have upgraded the chassis on a Lima one with new wheels, w irons etc, resprayed, re lettered it I am probably not that far short of £35. I would love to have a go at a Masterclass models one as they are a fantastic kit but simply am too time poor at the moment and cost wise would work out considerably more expensive than the Bachmann one albeit no doubt a better end result.