lapford34102

Hi, It was about two years ago Drewry was put out to grass though it feels a deal longer. Paul Wade generously stored it for me while I mulled over its future so I hmmm’d and haaa’d over what to do and did precisely nothing. In the meantime other projects took over and that was when I found I quite liked building track. I would class myself as amateur in this department as there are those far more proficient. But I did enjoy it and managed to even complete a single slip just to see if I could. I used Templot which is a powerful tool though I struggle to get my head round much more than creating a simple template but that’s me and certainly not Templot’s problem. Stumbling my way through various bits found that there were templates for Peco points on there and a somewhat crazy idea occurred to me. One comment Drewry got was “nice layout, shame about the track” and that eventually led to Sheepcroft but it stuck. Now you’re probably way in front on me now but the idea of replacing the Code 100 streamline with Code 75 bullhead using handbuilt points appealed as a project. It might be seen as a pointless (!) exercise but I was curious to see if I could pull it off. So here’s a couple of pics from the early stages showing the track removed and the points in their spaces. The grey bases are thin card to the rail heights to match the Peco bullhead which is to be used for the plain track. Cheers Stu

Hi, Thanks for that, thought it could be a one-off . I can now have a look and see if mine's the same. Stu

Someone's just watched Only Connect as well then :-) Stu

Try lifting it with masking tape, might take a couple of goes to get it all off. Stu

Hi, With my blue tin hat on both CCtransuk and Enterprising Western are correct. I've cut corners decalling and got away with it and I know others have. It is a gamble though depending on the quality of the carrier film, it's thickness, the type of paint it's going on, whether you're using decal products like Microsol/set or Gunze's Mr Setter/softer and so on and so forth. It is doable but probably depends on experience. I would agree with John though that to reduce the chances of silvering to an absolute minimum glossing the surface is the way to go. Decalling into a puddle of Kleer is as old as the hills but my only concern is that varnishing tends to change the colour. Varnishing matt finishes tends to darken, with gloss it tends to lighten but notice the word tends, again the effect is variable. In the military modelling world Xtracolour comes as a gloss paint so you only have put a topcoat on if needed after decalling. Gunze's Mr Color is semi-gloss for many of their military shades and they don't require any gloss coat. These have been around for some time and I'm still wondering why railway paint companies haven't followed their lead. Just my 5p's worth. Stu

In the early 60' wasn't there an idea to put Duchesses on the Bournemouth line. Think it was mentioned in one of the mags and remember hearing talk about it Stu

Hi MoonMonkey, I'll do my best but June seems a lifetime ago. The cab comes of in one bit to fit the decoder but is in 3 pieces; cab front,sides and roof, the bunker and floor. The front/bunker join is in line with bunker top. Being daft I dug the floor out. Mine looked to be "spot welded" in with glue and came out with a little presuasion (!). There are a couple of tabs on the floor, obvious when you look, that seem important at keeping front and back together. With the floor out things start looking a bit wobbly but fine with care. Crew in then reassembled though I didn't glue the floor back in and it seems fine. As for the weathering hardly a pearl of wisdom, in fact I should've checked before tapping away. No idiot like a etc etc ! It's 2 parts Metalcote Gunmetal (should have stressed the Metalcote originally) 1 part matt Tarmac and 1 part matt leather for the body. The leather can be varied a bit. I've also used a dark earth which is probably similar to a tarmac/leather mix. Apply as much or as little as needed. Even a light dusting is effective in "killing" the factory finish. I don't know if you've used Metalcote before but when dry you can buff then to give a metallic shine. For con rods, etc he uses Metalcote steel and gloss tan. Personally I've found this rather harder so maybe need more practice. Have you had a look at his website https://www.martynwelch.com/ Anything more please ask or PM but hope this helps rather than hinders :-) Have a play on something unimportant and see how it goes. Weathering is an art and people develop their own styles and preferences. There's lots of different techniques, materials, effects etc but no one right answer. Cheers Stu

Great find, I'll have to track a copy down though I've got no recollection of seeing any filming. If any of the 1366's crew get in shot be interesting to see if I recognise anyone, Stu

The light at the end of the tunnel, did someone just switch it off? Stu

Have a couple of Hymeks with Coastal DCC sound chips. Quite happy with them. https://www.coastaldcc.co.uk/products/sounds/diesel?page=2 Just bear in mind sound can be very subjective and things like speaker, it's location, environment, etc can make a difference. Stu

Ooops, something went wrong! Does it ever? Three doors up have just sold, know them well enough to find out how they did. Pre Covid we would regularly get flyers from estate agents all with a similar message - Thinking of selling? We have out of area buyers waiting. You might well be right listening to the news. I wonder if they'll dust off the Manston lorry park plans. As train services increased today they interviewed some passengers. Main point was plenty of seats. Understand that large numbers need to commute but home working might well improve the journey of those that have to travel. Someone from the CBI said possibly 30% of commuters might stay home working. And yes, your right that could well put pressure on housing in certain areas. Curious at your Faversham comment. Railway town morphed into a dormitory town? And finally a comment from 395 driver. When you get to Stratford in the morning the last 3 coaches empty - they're nearest the exit! Stu

Hi, Had a chat with a modeller friend who also drives 395's for a living. They were obviously designed for 225kph and are very power hungry. On the 750v where the power supply is limited there's is a marginal penalty on a 6 car, much more evident when running as 12 cars. There's a 100mph section between Ashford and Westenhanger, the lighter 375's can reach 100 in both directions, the 395's only Ashford to W'hanger "downhill". He describe the acceleration of a 12 car on 750v as slow when compared to other units he's driven. There's now 80mph between Ashford and Chilham, 60 round Chilham and then 70. But there's also a 45 and 60 restriction for foot crossings because of sight lines between Chartham and C'bury. No horns, upsets the natives! The other side you've got the 40 restriction for Grove Ferry. From a few varied sources heard the same story that the line here is ok for 60 but the treadle's for the level crossing are sited for 40. There are by the way 8 level crossings between Ramsgate and Ashford.

We might get a vaccine, then again we might not, the virus might mutate into something less dangerous, then again.... etc, etc. Predicting the future is a fraught activity. The Govt are very keen at getting the "Commuter Economy" going again though some "authorities" are saying Covid has accelerated the drift to home working and the like by a number of years. Societies evolve and change in how they behave and what they do and maybe, hopefully, something positive comes out of this tragedy. That makes two us at least though ironically searching for stuff has turned up a few things I never knew existed. We adapt as best we can and if the show scene evolves in new ways then so be it. I expect a lot of traditional show venues to be off limits for a long time so we'll have to see what effect that has. Stu

Eurostar update https://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/eurostar-trains-wont-stop-in-kent-until-2022-233181/ If ever.................. Stu

Hi, There's a 2020 breakdown here https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/kent-house-prices-new-heatmap-4410818 It goes into a little more detail and prices would appear to have dropped. My concern would be if Thanet started to emulate the Whitstable experience where you could be heading to a situation that the local earners start being priced out the market. Maybe unlikely but there's pressure on social housing and Thanet saw the smallest 5yr percentage growth (KCC) We simply need more economic housing for the locals before anything else. This in stark contrast to Faversham where there's development everywhere though who the target market is I don't know. I'm old enough to remember, and drive on, the old Thanet Way, 3 lane bits and all. From my point of view anything was likely to be an improvement :-) They are going to spend some money on it, primarily to correct the faults when it was built such as the washboard bit by the Chestfield Tunnel. I think the problem is the the moment the Channel Tunnel was built the M2 was always going to play second fiddle to the M20 and that's where the money's gone. You've just had part changed to a Smart (?) Motorway and the (in)famous Junction 10a work in progress. If they ever get round to building a Lower Thames Crossing and God knows we need it then the purse string might loosen for the M2. That's possible simply due to a quirk of history, it was never in the original plan AFAIK and seems to have introduced to placate certain populations. Going from Birchington to St. P via Strood and Ebbsfleet is hardly "High Speed" and I'm shouldn't be surprised SEastern charge a premium for it. I'll happily argue the Peterborough comparison till the cows come home :-) The line has to dogleg across Kent where on part of the route the linespeed has barely changed since the 60's though the C'bury-Ashford section has seen a modest increase. Sort out places like the Grove Ferry "chicane" and put in 25kv - maximising what the 395's can do - to Ramsgate and we could get somewhere. The question that might well be asked is "do we need any of this". The Commuter Economy may well be changing. (Warning, a bit political) The Gov are going on about getting back to work when I think they mean getting back to work in the cities etc. They are probably under pressure from Transport and service industries that rely on commuters to get back to the pre-covid state. I'm not sure that's going to happen to the extent they want it to or whether it's even desirable. Easy for me to sit here and say that but society's activities evolve and maybe we've crammed 10 years worth of evolution in a matter of months. Had a read of the Framework but probably not the place to comment.... Cheers Stu

Well you just may have it. https://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/new-railway-station-approved-233102/ No argument on that. I'll have a look at the rest of it tomorrow, well later today! Cheers Stu

The DLR connection Recent events have rather revitalised that traffic. Local media showing pics of crowded trains heading for Thanet, the beaches at Margate and Broadstairs being convenient for the stations, Ramsgate less so. In Broadstairs on certain days watching the day trippers troop down to the beach became something of a spectator sport. Mike, we're probably going to have to agree to disagree on a number of things but just to respond to a few of your points from a personal perspective. Better lifestyle certainly but much of the housing development is at the upper end of the market, cheaper or comparable with markets closer to the Capital but not "cheap" . There's a "blinged up" 60's 4 bed detached in the next road at £600,000. Thanet Way is motorway standard dual carriageway from theM2 to St Nicholas-at Wade and dual carriageway to Ramsgate and Sandwich. Margate link isn't as good but hits urban area sooner. Not sure that's a fair comparison. Peterborough is a stop on a much longer route and the fastest service is non-stop as far as I can see. Whilst non stop St Pancras to Ramsgate might well be comparable it wouldn't be much use. Neither do I but I don't underestimate the ability of local pressure groups to muddy the waters. Not exactly a problem given the (probably intentional but only my opinion) dismal service South Eastern see to provide. When the Covenant expires next year it'll likely be for the axe. Cheers Stu

A new station a bit closer to St Pancras won't make a major difference, Apart from improving the parking situation around Ramsgate station it'll benefit travellers from Sandwich, possibly Deal and those in places like Birchington though a fair amount has been made about it's "unmanned halt" status. Also the current setup doesn't seem to have put off people moving down in the slightest. What's missing from the scheme are further improvements to the track between Thanet and Ashford, such as Grove Ferry , though that would be be very expensive. We have a row brewing over the possible re-opening of Manston and this project might well get dragged into the mix. Cheers Stu

Some were. Yetminster's column was supplied by a natural spring and the water was drinkable. Stu

Hi Martin, Many thanks for that. Yes, solid tie bar and milled stocks. Had never heard of the name before - old enough that I probably should have ! - and just interested. Looking at the instructions would imagine it was part of a product range. Curiosity now satisfied though now I know it's heritage tempted to put it all back in the packaging as it would be almost heresy to build it now :-) Thanks Stu

Hi, Whilst looking for an AWOL instruction sheet unearthed this. Donated a little while ago it's an EM point kit. Having a closer look it has a pre-soldered "V", planed blades and shaped checked rails etc. Sleepers are pre-cut to length with pads rather than continuous copperclad. Looks very well made complete with comprehensive instructions. There's a date of 1976 on the plans. Just curious if anyone has any further information. Thanks Stu

Sorry Mullie, didn't answer your question. The Bristol service only ran in 83 + 84 and went via the Town station so a bit convoluted. Great idea but probably too late. Have a personal connection with the Tram, and in the case of DMMU's my late father took the test unit down in March 83. There's a pic on here somewhere. Remember him saying the biggest problem was all the inspectors etc in the cab making a nuisance of themselves. Stu

From the flats behind. A couple more. The one above has been posted before but it's an interesting formation. If you modelled it you'd probably get some odd looks but a great use for a couple of Lima 117 DMBS and old Triang Metro Cammell centre car. Stu

Yes. Stu

A 117 from the 80's Stu