nickwood

Link to the details of the Basingstoke show

A few photos of Much Murkle which will be returning to the exhibition circuit after a four year sabbatical. Very much looking forward to exhibiting with my team again and meeting old friends and acquaintences. 

photos courtesy of Andy York & BRM

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1 hour ago, longchap said:

Well I'll be at the Southampton show next weekend, despite one of my favourite model railways going to Basingstoke later in the year, but only just up the road, so anything's possible.

 

MM is still looking splendid Nick and I'm glad it will be giving much pleasure to enthusiasts once again.

 

Are you still considering another layout? 

 

Best,

 

Bill

Hope you can make it, would be nice to see you again Bill.

Prior to my house move in 2021 I planned another GWR terminus layout and built the boards. Peco bullhead track was ordered and received and that is as far as it has got. It is not a dead project, just on the back burner and waiting for sufficient spare time.

I also have another project that is moving on albeit very slowly. I acquired a couple of DCC sound equipped diesels and a small amount of goods stock from the estate of my good friend Mick Bonwick who you may recall passed away suddenly in 2021. I had some spare boards already built for another layout which didn't progress so I've used these with the intention to try out DCC with a gritty industrial shunting layout set in the late 60's. Green diesels and 16T rusty minerals aplenty. I've moved my workshop into a garden studio building which will have this layout on a shelf along the rear wall. I may start a thread on this soon as the track is down and wiring is nearing completion.

Anyway this thread is about Much Murkle and my focus currently is getting it back into tip top shape before the Basingstoke show.

It was Coopercraft. EBay might be your best best.

21 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

I should be able to avoid uneven track on this because it’s mostly going to be straight and level with one point of very generous radius. One solution to height imperfections that I’ve seen suggested elsewhere is to make the couplings without loops ever so slightly higher than the loop-fitted ones, enough to retain the loops but not so much that re-coupling becomes difficult. It seems like this would work in theory but I slightly doubt my ability to be this precise.

I’ve not come across this theory but in principle it makes some sense, however the difference in height would hardly be different to the tolerance you would expect in trying to make the couplings the same height. Not worth the effort in my view. 
 

21 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

In that case, is there any point in fitting the latches on the ends with loops? After all, there will be no loops on the adjacent wagons to rest on them.

The latches are not needed on the ends with loops. I do fit them though when making up the etches as in my experience the latches are the weak point of the DG design and if one becomes troublesome I can easily swap the loop to the other end, turn the item of stock and continue using it.

22 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

If you do have the loops only on one end, is there a preferable way round to have them, in terms of which end has the loop relative to where the end of the siding is?

Not that I’ve found. They seem to work well whichever way I choose to face them.

22 hours ago, 009 micro modeller said:

 I thought the principle on which they work was basically the same. I just think I might get on better with B&Bs during construction, because the loop is etched rather than formed from wire on a jig, as with DGs. I also already have some, whereas I don’t have any DGs.

At the time I made the decision to go for DG’s, a few years ago now, I couldn’t find a supplier for the B&B’s so my choice was made for me. I do not use DG’s method of making the loops with phosphor bronze wire and a steel dropper soldered to them as the whole loop Assembly and dropper can be easily made from one length of ispring steel wire . I assume with the B&B’s you have to solder a steel dropper to the etched loop?

I use DG’s very successfully on my layout both for home use and over 30 exhibitions. If your layout is end to end and you are happy not to turn your stock then I can see no point in having loops at both ends of the stock.  The loops in one direction would not be in tension in any case.

I accept that there is the possibility of uncoupling if the track level is uneven or the coupling heights vary. Both of these situations would be better addressed at source rather than trying to overcome it with adjustments or unnecessary additions to the couplings. I have found that DG’s are generally tolerant of small variations in height. I have no direct experience of B&B’’s but as they are very similar, I assume that their performance would be similar.

Scalescenes have a kit and ChisinDen do a laser cut set of card parts for it.

https://scalescenes.com/product/r011-arched-bridge/

21 hours ago, BWsTrains said:

 

Congratulations. Recognition very much deserved IMO.

 

Colin

21 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Seconded. Your "meagre modelling efforts" were in the three that finally got me back into modelling again after a twenty year break and impressed 'er indoors sufficiently that my return to modelling was her suggestion as an extension of my artwork.

Thank you both. I really need to give some thought on Much Murkle's future and where I go next.

I had a Lillevilla log cabin installed earlier this year. Lillevilla.co.uk

I looked at many other suppliers and for me Lillevilla came out best on value for money for a good quality building.

They do promotions at the shows they attend and it is usually a very substantial discount if you order at the show. Erection team were fantastic and I'm very pleased with my cabin. The cabin is double glazed as standard with 40mm thick logs (most are 25mm) which gives better insulation. I opted for floor and roof insulation as an extra. I installed a laminated floor and the electrics myself and you do have to get the base laid beforehand by your own contractor. 12 year warranty providing the outside is treated within 14 days of erection.

I have no connection other than as a satisfied customer.

We’ve averaged just over 8kwh generation over the last four days in North Hampshire with a 6.5kw south facing array. We’ve only had solar installed since early December and Although some days have generated very little, we have been pleasantly surprised overall. It has performed much better than we expected so far.  
We are with Octopus on their Go tariff which gives us 4 hours from 00:30 to 04:30 at 12ppKwh which we use to top up our 9.5Kwh battery and do as much high load domestic use as possible at the cheap rate. 

On 14/01/2023 at 23:55, Phil Himsworth said:

I had hoped the smiley indicated I wasn't being serious about the golf courses! 

 

The biofuels, though... get rid of them first, then worry about whether solar PV is taking too much space.

Apologies, the smiley didn’t appear on my screen for some reason. Agree about biofuels.

15 minutes ago, Phil Himsworth said:

 

(Or golf courses, which take up 1250km^2! Imagine how much energy would be generated if we installed solar panels on those 😜 )

Care to tell us what recreational activity you enjoy, it’s obviously not golf. You could make the same argument for any recreational areas, sports fields, common land etc. 

If it is ground based areas a more sensible suggestion might be motorway and railway embankments where there are substantial tracts of land doing absolutely nothing.