Alcanman

Thanks. Some crucial detail in your pics. The middle siding is shorter than I thought and I was wondering what was contained in the small yellow sheds. Looks like sand bags. With the space I have available I can only create a small proportion of the office buildings in the 'shanty town'

Thanks guys. I've ordered the one on e-bay, much cheaper than I expected. Mal

Thanks Michael. I presume the RJ-12 connector and cable has universal use and not exclusive to the NCE Powercab? Sorry, but I have little knowledge of electonics.

My NCE Powercab is now 6 years old and has proved to an excellent purchase and very reliable. However, I've recently experienced an intermittant power problem and traced this back to the connector at the power panel end. I swopped the cable around, inserting the 'faulty' connector into the handset and all is well .. for now. I also noticed that the black outer cable appears to have shrunk back exposing the 6 coloured wires and causing stress on the wires,hence the intermittant fault. I was wondering if a repacement 6 wire flat cable with RJ-12 connector is available and where it can be sourced. Thanks, Mal

It would appear from all the pics I've seen, including the one in Rail Express, that lifts are done outside.https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8071/8338811260_ac83002d13_b.jpg

Wiring completed today and locos are running nice and smoothly. Nice to hear the 'ying ying' of the 66s once again. Here we see 66209 shunting and 66101 fuelling... It must be 2012 as the depot building is still under construction. Next, I'll proceed to paint the track and then ballasting.

After a few minor tweaks to the track plan, I now have all the track cut and pinned in place. I'll now proceed to glue the track with diluted PVA and then wire up the layout. Here is the area which will be 'scenicked' with 66209 at the proposed location of the fuelling point. This is the view from the overbridge which is appears to be called 'The Viaduct' on the prototype. ... and the hidden sidings at the other end of the layout

Before commencing tracklaying, I decided to build the 4 walls of the wagon repair depot in order to establish the exact position of the siding which enters the building. As suggested in the Rail Express article, I used a Pikestuff kit and chose this one as it has an option of a centrally located door opening. By reducing the width of the structure and widening the door aperture, the building looks more in proportion to the prototype. At a scale 70ft long x 50ft wide the depot looks about right. Next, I'll proceed with tracklaying. I'll be using plan b - Thanks to Alan (60091) for his suggestion.

Yes, the Mdf is simply screwed to the timber frames. Originally, I used to use dowels and the Mdf could be simply lifted off. However, this sometimes wasnt too secure so I started using screws and never had a problem since.

Baseboards completed today. You may be thinking that I work fast, but all I have to do is remove the old MDF tops and replace them with new ones. The 3 x 1 timber frame was built in 1998 , along with the IKEA units which provide support. This arrangement has survived a mulitude of small layouts! Not exactly text book baseboard building, but it works for a serial layout bulder like me and provides a neat looking layout. Wilkos grey emulsion still drying on the cork top. Now it's time to see if my track plan fits. And, mustn't forget to pick up Mrs A from Morpeth station......

Looks like the layout is going ahead quicker than I expected. Dropped Mrs A at Morpeth to catch the 8.58 to Edinburgh (for a hen weekend) then proceeded to catch 6S45 leaving North Blyth Alcan at 9.25 (pic in 'class 66 photos'). On to Tyne Yard (pic also in 'class 66 photos) then Homebase to pick up some MDF. Layout build will commence tomorrow. As they say 'when the cat's away .......'

66716 passes Freeman's Crossing yesterday with 6F39 /13:53 North Blyth - Cottam PS Same location. Today. 66736 'Wolverhampton Wanderers' with 6S45 / 9:25 North Blyth - Fort Willam 66529 at Tyne Yard today.

Great weathering John. Exactly as I remember 21t hoppers on the Blyth & Tyne Mal

Thanks again for the pics, very useful. Totally agree with your comments regarding the temptation to cram in as much track as possible From the pics, it's very clear just how spacious the Tees Yard area is, and not just because of rationalisation. With regard to the bridge, I've looked at Google Earth, and the massive concrete flyover which overlooks Tees Yard isn't very appealing, so I'll probably use something generic like the one I used on Furnace Way Sidings. The very clean, shiny 08 on your pic reminded me of my latest purchase. The pic is a tad unkind as it shows the obvious flaws in the Bachmann model - oversize connecting rods and handrails. A bit of judicious weathering will cure that. Although DBS withdrew their 08s last year it appears they are back in favour, as 08752 has been repaired at re-instated at Tyne Yard.

Thanks David. Some great pics there and excellent reference for my project. Also given me a much better idea of the area surrounding the WRD/Fuelling point. I'm afraid it's 35 years since I visited Thornaby when it looked like this Fuelling point ...

I agree with your comment above. I think I'll probably go ahead with 'plan b'. I'll simply use the bottom 2 tracks in the fiddle yard to store locos which can arrive/depart the fuelling point. The top 2 fiddle yard tracks will be use for locos and wagon arrivals/departures at the wagon repair depot. Locos can also make their way to the fuelling point. So plenty of variety in operations. I can't manage a pic of your favourite coal sector 60, but I've gone back in time to when 60007 was in Loadhaul livery

Thanks QP. Very useful pics, and interesting snow scene!

Great pics again John. The Tyne Yard pics have inspired me to start planning a new layout. Not too far away - Tees Yard! Mal

Thanks Alan. I like your idea of extending the fuelling point track into the fiddle yard. It would,indeed, give more operational flexibility and double the storage area by adding a further point. Unlike my previous layouts on RMWeb, I decided to start the thread before commencing building the layout as I felt I needed more info, ideas etc. I've just found Tees Yard WRD on Google Maps and it looks like the fuelling point is actually on a thru line coming from Tees Yard. It's not on a headshunt which the pics appeared to suggest. So maybe your suggestion is actually more prototypical. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/thornaby+train+station/@54.5589651,-1.3021209,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xe13a6f2d7096f0f4 The layout is home based, located against a bedroom wall and not portable for exhibitions.

Yes Rob, I've looked at the Westbury thread, some useful pics there. Mal

Thanks Alan. Your pic is most helpful, as it shows more of the fuelling point than other pics I've seen. The pic also shows what Rail Express described as a 'shanty town' of buildings which will be interesting to model . Also notable is the Class 60 in the pic, quite a few seem to feature in the pics I've looked at, particularly in DBS red. This led me to buy this one which will be weathered and dcc sound fitted in due course. It will be joined by these 2 66s

Thanks Andy, that's exactly what I'm looking for. There are loads of TMD layouts here on RMWeb but not many featuring a WRD and it's all the little details that really make the layout. I'll spend some time looking at Swad Lane , looks like a quality layout.

Almost 11 months ago when introducing my layout 'Furnace Way Sidings' I wrote : Posted 02 October 2014 - 15:40 The idea for my new layout came along after reading an article in the June 2013 Rail Express which featured small wagon repair depots. The lead photo showed such a small C&W facility at Blyth Cambois. Although I'd visited the small TMD at Cambois, I wasn't aware of the facility which consisted of some hard-standing next to a siding along with a few wagon storage sidings. The article also showed a modern compact WRD, including loco fueling, at Tees Yard, built by EWS in 2013. This looked good for a small layout. (It was actually 2012 not 2013) Of course, I got side-tracked and a wagon repair depot did not feature in the layout. However, I've found myself returning to the article, particularly the page featuring ' A modern day wagon works' Here is a link to one of the photos shown on the page https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tees+yard+wagon+repair+depot&biw=1600&bih=743&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CCAQsARqFQoTCL_dlL2A08cCFYw8FAodlDQOkw#imgrc=WJwobDielHbdGM%3A As you can see the facility is very compact with just a fan of short sidings, a small repair shed and a fueling point on the headshunt. Here is my initial track plan, as with all my layouts, measuring 9ft x 15ins. The end of summer usually marks the start of the 'modelling season for me, so I'm hoping to get started on the build soon. In the meantime, I would welcome any comments, info, pics regarding Tees Yard WRD or any other modern wagon repair depots. Thanks, Mal

Great pics John. Glad you've returned to Tyne Yard. I decided to pay a visit this morning to try out my new telephoto zoom lens. Took loads of pics, the 300mm lens perfect for TY. Then, to my horror, I discovered I'd forgotten to insert the SD Card! My first sighting of Colas 56s,they look great, and nice to see yard shunter 08752 returned to TY. Mal

Yesterday afternoon grey liveried Gbrf 66749 with 6F39/13:53 North Blyth - Drax at the splendidly named 'Winning' (Blyth & Tyne) 10.00am this morning and Gbrf 66736 'Wolverhampton Wanderers' is running around 6S45/9:25 North Blyth - Fort William Alcan Mal