SouthernMafia

The first Class 345 arrived at Old Oak this morning as 5X60 09:39 Wembley to OOC Crossrail Depot.

Lol, I too have wondered such a thing. It would probably have to be rebuilt to its previous standard !!

There was just a single set out today on 1A03 etc, 800009. Was booked to couple to another set at Padd on arrival but seemingly this didn't happen (probably due to very late arrival after incident between Bath and Chippenham this morning involving 1A02) and so single set has been running around on its own today. I expect the Twitterarmy were out in force scoffing at the success of the capacity increase these new trains will provide. It was hardly going to be long before a 5-car got out on a 10-car diagram, wonder how wedged it was at Reading.

Just 2 required, seems silly to buy a pack of 10. Anyone have any spare going please? http://www.hattons.co.uk/32904/Bachmann_Branchline_44_529_Traffic_Island_Bollards_x_10/StockDetail.aspx

It's a shame the Railtrack version has all the small test markings on it, presumably something to do with gauge clearance testing? The real thing had 2 large spotlights on each end mounted below the solebar and a CCTV style camera mounted on the front above the headlight. Looking at pictures it didn't appear to have the markings and no camera/spotlights at any time, but it did have it the other way round (ie no markings but camera and lights present) and indeed had none of it at all, which would be my preferred condition of the model. Don't really fancy removing all those markings, there's hundreds! MJM Photography https://flic.kr/p/gaGPTX

For anyone with a keen set of eyes there are at least 2 387s very well hidden in Didcot yard...

Very pleased with my NSE version which I was able to inspect over the weekend. Bit of work to do to get it exhibition ready with Portland back out in March. I'm wondering whether the spare doors can be utilised to improve the front of the Hornby 4VEP.

The door was never open. There was a fault with the system telling the driver that it was insecure (does not mean open), when it was checked it was found to be secure. Reboot was carried out and fault rectified itself.

It's a 1568: https://flic.kr/p/YDg5yn

You're misinformed, nobody who works on the railway is familiar with the term 'rush'. Similarly 'quick', 'hurry' etc. are also infrequently utilised. The job will be done in its own good and proper time ! Normally after a cuppa.

With more lasers than a 90s rave, I have a station building and parcels depot. The roof is temporary as I need to work out the angles for the middle bit, hence the apparent short bit. Frustratingly, the Wills sheets are not long enough for the middle bit and so I need to devise a way of concealing the joins This was the first bit I did, and experimented with some fine filler and then a grey primer to see how it looked. Generally pleased, but will take a while to do the rest of the gaps! Parcels depot: A slight mis-calculation in the laser file means I need to redo a small fascia piece. The white stuff is 2 x 5mm foamboard glued and laminated with 1mm ply. Rather impressed with how its gone together, and you'd struggle to get such clean straight lines with a knife. My thanks to Roger Stonham for his help and time with cutting of the components. Windows and doors have also been cut and this is the next job, along with white primer and painting for the parcels depot.

Taken from a thread on the new decoder in the Bachmann forum: Am told my NSE TC arrived at my folks place today safe and sound, looking forward to unwrapping ! Will fit perfectly into my operations on Portland.

1B12 08:15 Pad to Cardiff formed 800008 + 800009 did Pad to Reading in 23 minutes this morning arriving 5 early. It also ran 1 early consistently down to Newport.

First 12-car Class 387 test currently running: 387153 387157 387158 5Z50 09:05 Reading TCD to Didcot Parkway 5Z51 09:46 Didcot Parkway to Reading TCD

They are back in service today.

Presumably in keeping with the modern day scene you have a Class 800 on order, complete with leaking air con ?

ADD fault...whatever that is but yes looks like switch over to electric didn't work. Unfortunately everything behind it is 20mph through the affected section on the UM so lots of happy punters !

A rather fantastic quip from Paul Clifton on South Today this evening, says what has been said many a time in this thread: "There's a new phrase for being unable to organise a drinks party in a brewery, it's called Network Rail project management!"

Pleased you're enjoying the progress, it's slow and steady but coming along. I hope to have some major scenic works complete for the Basingstoke show in March. I've only been to Portland once when I was much younger, and it certainly wasn't a model railway recce trip! But i do recall the roundabout and sculpture thing where the station once was, although at the time I didn't realise this is where the station was.

Looking forward to seeing Loftus at Fareham. I'll be the bloke asking about how you did the yellow stripes on the Connex 4-VEP !

Looking forward to seeing the layout, I'll be there Saturday

A couple of hours gluing and squaring up and the basic shell is complete (minus roof)

After being away on holiday I have returned to the Winchester club room to find the first stages of Portland's station building waiting for me. One of our members owns a laser cutter and is kindly assisting me in the project. These are the "bases" of the building, ie the main structure. On top of this will be similarly sized Wills dressed stone sheets, also being laser cut. These will interlock with the window and door frames, as well the corner stones. The plastic pieces have yet to be cut, but this is what I'm working on today.

Factory weathering has come along way in the past few years and is getting better with each release, especially from Kernow (47706 for example). I do agree in some cases it still needs work (latest weathered Mainline 37242) If it's not to your taste then don't buy it, or you could always learn to remove the weathering and apply it yourself to avoid spending money. Heck, I think there's a term for that, it's called modelling!

Layout looking great. I would stop worrying about the layout being incomplete and focus on what you want to achieve for the show, but most of all enjoy it all! When I took Portland to Brockenhurst last year I was overwhelmed by the positive feedback despite the layout being far from complete, I think you'll find folk are very interested in seeing a layout in the development stages, even more so when the quality is so high. This and Loftus Rd will be ensuring my attendance at Fareham, look forward to see them both.