lapford34102

Looks good. I don't think the colour does it any favours, a pity they didn't give it a coat of grey primer. Stu

Was next to a DVD sales stand....... Enough said! Stu

The control systems of the 74 were quite advanced for their time, one of the first uses of solid state kit in a loco IIRC. When they worked they were very impressive, fast, strong and smooth riding. They were intended for heavy boat trains amongst other things. Subbing for a REP a 74 and an 8TC made for a fun trip. Unreliability and falling boat train traffic were factors in their short existence. In the end there were enough 73's to cover the work. In the excuse for anything department they were even used on a Weymouth parcels for a time. Stu

Hi, A good weekend at the Sileby show, very busy on the Sat and not a lot slower on the Sun in spite of the foul weather. Had some good conversations and even managed to press gang a stand-in operator for 20 min, thanks Andy, now go build your layout! Was slightly baffled though by someone late Sun afternoon who seemed intent on convincing me that small shunting layouts were boring...... Generally the layout worked well however the weekend didn't get off to a good start as my sound 08 blew up before opening on the Sat, expiring with a clearly audible bang. Inspection revealed a definitely cooked Loksound 4 chip and damaged bodyshell, the effects of the heat visible from the outside. As this is the second Hornby sound 08 that's died on me. Westwood, you might have a problem.... On the upside a young man called Nathaniel who evidently has an eye for a good photo took some shots and has kindly given me permission put a couple on here. I'll live with the tension locks but the 33 headcode, oh dear ! Cheers Stu

Hi David, No apologies needed, I'll happily witter away given half a chance. As regards the "fiddle siding", a source of much amusement when people see it, simply a piece of chipboard with a couple of bits of 2" x 1" to hold it up. Originally I never intended it for anything bigger than a 350 hp 0-6-0 and 2 wagons and a brake and they fitted on the main board, just. But then got ambitious so now we can get a Bo-Bo and 3 wagons and a brake. The limit is really set by the run round and how many wagons it will take and work out your fiddle yard lengths. Hope this make sense. Operationally it's not really restrictive as it's the train movements that's the "fun" bit, train size is secondary in many ways. Most viewers seem quite happy to accept it for what it is. An observation, possibly contentious, is that there are plenty of excellent classic "shunting puzzle" layouts but operationally things get interesting the moment you add a loop. Cheers Stu

I sure it's a reflection of something, quite what though I have no idea........ The points are small radius though I think the overall layout size gives a different impression. As for the layout plans please go ahead, I've undoubtedly got the idea from someone else. As regards my EM effort I was very pleased with the look of the track but dealing with points 50% longer interesting....! Cheers Stu

Kent CC have the funding for this and intend to build it by 2019. Built on farmland the new station will be an unmanned with 2 platform and a 300 space car park. It's situated close to the Junction of the A299 and A256 a couple of miles from the centre of Ramsgate. This puts the station between Ramsgate and Minster Junction. There is more info here Consultants technical docs - http://www.kent.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/16622/Thanet-Parkway-Station-Technical-Note.pdf KCC Information - http://www.kent.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/travelling-around-kent/thanet-parkway-railway-station I've read through the paperwork and went to the consultation meeting at Ramsgate Station. And for the benefit of any conspiracy theorists around this proposal clearly pre-dates the issues with Manston. There's a deal of stress on the idea of Parkway to London(Stratford International) in about an hour. Quite why Stratford and not St Pancras is something I never got a clear answer to. To achieve this sort of timing the line between Ramsgate and Ashford will need to be re-signalled and upgraded to get line speeds above their present Edwardian levels. If I've understood things correctly this will be done in phases starting in 2019. There's a widely recognised issue with parking at Ramsgate. Sandwich would also benefit ands there's a proposal to run a shuttle bus from Birchington. All trains will stop at the Parkway. KCC stressed they will protect services to existing stations. The headlines points being made:- Improve the perception of East Kent Reduce journey times Provide Park-and-Ride facilities Support Housing and Employment developments Reduce congestion/parking issues Stu Edited to correct links

Hi, Just to mention Shelfe St will be at the Syston show this weekend http://www.freewebs.com/systonmrs/ If you're visiting please say hello. Stu

Weymouth 1986 Stu

Had a chance to visit Paul and have a good look at TWY which is in amazingly good nick considering. Know he has plans for modest scenery tweaks, as he pointed out materials and methods have moved on in 25 years. At DEMU the layout's going to be older than some of the adult visitors and I'm shall be interested in peoples reaction when told some of the units are MTK. Stu

Hi, Backscene now on, plus I've done the capping and tried an idea for the ends. Those seemed like a good idea when I thoughtabout but now they're here in 3D not so sure. I tend not to plan my layouts down to the last blade of static grass, quite the opposite in fact so there's going to be a degree of extemporising and improvising. Not necessarily the best plan but it's primer and undercoat next and then see how it looks. Stu

Hi, Now things have quietened down got doing the backscene. Feeling slightly radical after the festivities did consider whether you actually need one. Now a good backscene, e.g. the one on Black Country Blues, can significantly enhance a layout whilst a bad one can certainly detract but are they a necessity...? Probably, if nothing else they provide a backdrop and way of hiding the exhibitors usual detritus of half drunk cups of coffee, assorted foodstuffs, paperwork and suchlike that would just be a distraction. Although not that obvious the backscene curves forward gently from one end to the other. Been doing the capping today but discovered my camera has gone phut! so any more pictorial updates might not be forthcoming for a while. Stu

Nice to see they've included the Tramway bell.. :-) They can get sound in an "N" gauge 03.......................................... Stu

Hi, Well that little flurry of tags and comments has woken me up from my Yuletide stupor....... BG John, Peco definitely has a place if only as a way of honing tracklaying skills. My efforts after Drewry I hope show some form of progression without which I doubt I'd have had the confidence to attempt EM. Ernie, as for setting nothing definite yet but will have to give it some thought in the New Year as one brave soul has already booked it for a show As for the conversions not sure I'd be the best to lecture on that but happy to explain how I've done mine. Think there might be a case for a dedicated subsection for gauge conversions on here. Work on layout will resume in the New Year and I've recovered from the Grandchildren Stu

Couple more pics Stu

Hi, Thanks to everyone for the comments and the likes. Must admit I had one of those "did I really do that" moments last night and as I commented to Phil who helped me that I was surprised just how different it looks. David, the trackplan, in my usual 5' scenic,is simpler mainly because of the space the points take up so a run round with just 2 sidings. Point control is the same as Drewry, wire and small slide switches. Built in a fair amount of slack as the throw needed is less than RTL stuff. Thanks Stu

One comment Drewry Lane received occasionally was of the “nice layout, shame about the track” variety. In many ways a valid comment and one aspect I did make an effort with on Shelfe Street. There the matter rested until a show at the start of the year where I got into a deep discussion on the merits of “finescale” track. So I decided to quietly have a go. I was fortunate to get the assistance, via the internet, of Phil Eames who provided a lot of help. Any cock-ups, bodges or mistakes though are exclusively mine. The idea was that this is something of a test piece that could be a bit of a show space filler if it worked, with the last being the bit I certainly wasn’t confident about. I decided on EM though various assorted personages waved the P4 flag energetically. In the end I stuck with EM because it can be more forgiving and there was a cost overhead going P4. The plain track is C+L and the points BH rail, copperclad sleepers and Templot. “it’s easy” is a phrase I’d often heard over the years when talking about getting into handbuilt track. That’s not a phrase I would use. It can be a steep learning curve and if I’d had to rely solely on the web and books to get going the whole lot would have likely ended up in the bin. By my 3rd point I was beginning to get the hang of things though grateful for copperclads abilty to be tweaked when you get it wrong, which I did. So with half a dozen points done and, as far as possible tested, decided it was time to stick it altogether and see where it went. Sticking with my usual shunting plank format the results are below. I will happily admit that even in this state it looks very different to RTL track. Getting a “working” layout threw up a few more issues such as varying track heights due to sleeper thicknesses and getting joinerless rail joins right but nothing horrendous. Wired up for DCC and a deep breath. Surprise, surprise, it actually worked. My hastily converted Heljan Hymek stayed on the track and even managed to push a few wagons around without dumping them onto the scenery. It wasn’t 100% but was better than I feared it might be. Track gauges and iron out again and a bit more adjustment., more testing. Pretty happy with things now have the track painted so it’s on to the scenery and some more stock. Stu

Firstly thanks to everyone for their support, much appreciated. Well having had a good hard look at the changes made to Shelfe and the dismal efforts of mine with the foliage have had another go. Somewhat happier now with the look so have taken a couple more shots. An 08 on a short coal run and a 33/1 on an engineers train, the first wagon a Lamprey from the Chivers kit. Well it's Braunstone next weekend and Canterbury 18th/19th Jan. Stu

Firstly many thanks to those who voted for Drewry in the BRM poll, maybe another time. I've been somewhat inactive over the past few months and if I may a brief explanation. Some will remember me writing when my father died earlier in the year. Sadly things didn't get any easier. My mothers sole surviving sister died suddenly about 6 weeks after and two months after that my mother suffered a stroke. As luck would have it I was staying with her at the time. As a result she is now in residential care and as anyone who has been in the same position will know it can be a very difficult journey. Things are more settled now and hopefully I'll be able to get back into things. Looking through the thread realised there weren't that many shots of Shelfe Street - probably no great loss - but I've made a change since. Was never too happy about the scenic break so now put in something more traditional. Not actually sure I'm that happy with what I've done but at best it's no worse. What I'm definitely not happy happy with is the rubbish foliage around the brickwork, can't have been thinking straight and it'll have to go before it's next outing. That's the show at Braunstone on Nov 1st. Organised by the Vicar and held in the church it's a small fun show for a good cause and quite close to my daughter so it'll make for a family weekend and keep SWMBO happy. A couple of hastily taken pics. The 350hp (yes, another one!) was to hand so I plonked it on, it's destined for something else. Stu

It did and judging by progress so far I'm sure yours will be just as good :-) Then I'll go and have another good cry, it's the one loco that would get me into 7mm. However I'm hoping the Heljan one will be some sort of consolation prize if it's an improvement over my DJH one. Stu

Belatedly caught up with this. Handled a built up Kit on their stand at Stafford then went outside for a good cry...... Absolutely superb. Pic was taken just west of the loading stage looking over the harbour towards the Nothe as has been mentioned. Far less trees and greenery then, late 50's ?, than now, no yacht park then either. As regards the strange pole like object wonder if its actually a point lever as the ones on the Tram were removable. Stu

Treated myself to a green one and like it, mostly, but having a quick compare between it and the Mk1 have come up with a number of "why's" that are probably not worth pursuing. One question though, anyone popped the headcode out yet ?<br />Stu

The green one certainly looks the part - very tempted<br /><br />Stu

Engineering sample here http://www.Bachmann.co.uk/details.php?id=172&vis=2 Stu

Now where have I heard that before .....? Anyhow all credit to those who have worked to get the network back up again. Stu