kevpeo

Oh, you'll certainly hear it Mark!!! Three different departures possible so far, depending on how much ''throttle'' you select. Only on a v4 of course! Kev.

If Mark lets me, Rannoch Moor may well get backdated for a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon in October! kev.

My local retailer, Crafty Hobbies, got his three (inc mine) on Wednesday. Please note that the lovely pan is probably strictly for show only if you want to run it touching the wires, as the pan head does not stay parallel to the track! This can be seen on some of 87 101's photo's above. Shortening the retaining wire may help but I haven't tried it yet. It does sound fantastic with Legomanbiffo's sounds coming from it though! kev.

Ha. I did tempt you to revisit your ''Brian'' then Bif!

It would be rude not to visit its namesake Mark! What couplings are you using? 37 408 is currently sitting on the programming track getting some 37 423 thrash added! kev.

Slightly off topic I know, but with my Bachmann 85 imminent (I hope!) The Black Beatle power bogies and sound decoder from my DC Kits model have now moved on to repower a Hornby 86. This leaves the body shell unwanted and worthless. So with a bit of lateral thinking and a couple of friends building a preserved line and workshops layout(s). 85 018 gets a new life in preservation sat on blocks – Waste not, want not, etc! Kev.

Second time lucky for 37 408 as it gets an admiring glance while waiting for the peg to lift. It failed on its first day in traffic! I thought I'd heard a strange noise coming from it as it went past me on Coppell last weekend, it turned out to be the speaker ''rattling''. Very strange as it was probably the most securely fastened in the LD fleet! Loch Rannoch is now fitted with the usual 58 x 20 in the tanks and sounds much healthier. Of course when I tested the now removed speaker afterwards, it worked perfectly. Grrr! The only other LD news is the arrival of a legomanbiffo V4 decoder which has been fitted into 27 025. It does require a very different driving style though!!!! Kev.

A standard 37 would have to be completely ''kernackered'' to sound like a slug Mark! I did hear a 47 at Inverness once that had blown its head gasket on the internal overnight (rescued by 37 708!) It sounded like a 26 as it limped to the shed! kev.

Not Loch Dour as such, but I have been playing with the camera again! This time on Coppell, and there is a 37 involved, sort of! The links can be found here in DCC sound if anyone is interested! http://www.rmweb.co....200#entry671969 I'm off to Liverpool to play trains now! Kev.

While Coppell has been set up, (briefly!) while it was readied for Liverpool show this weekend, I snuck up to the clubrooms while it was empty and tried a few vids. First 86 233 with an Olivia’s ESU decoder – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_auLd2n1-M4 Next a 150 again with an Olivia’s – http://youtu.be/aYOkfnhqb5A  A 304 with a Legomanbiffo one – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypo21-gBbmM&feature=relmfu And finally 37 902 with a Howe’s decoder - http://youtu.be/OYuED-hrncw This last is an experiment in editing, as I used my Tascam to record the sounds as well, and then replaced the sounds from the camera mic on the vid, much better quality but it does get a bit loud as the 37 passes the mic’s! kev.

Thanks all, as for the Brasso working on Heljan Anthony, it does, but you have to be very careful not to rub through the paint down to the plastic. It's way too easy to do on Heljan & Hornby!!! HTH, kev.

Ok, Ok, I get the hint, no more kettles!!! How about this instead! Fresh from an exam at Eastfield (well my workbench!) And they didn't even bother to give it a wash! 37 408 engages in a spot of PW work. Can you spot the ''massive'' speaker? I even got off my backside and fabricated a couple of ETS sockets for this one. Trouble is i'll have to go back and fit them to the others now. I used to use the A1 Models brass one's, but haven't been able to find them for a while, so thought ''what if''? Not the best picture I've ever taken, and the front bogie looks a little odd because the track is coming off a gradient at this point. 408 is fitted with a Loksound v4 and another home brewed sound program, and no, its not recordings of 37 423. That one's still being worked on! kev. Website - http://lochdour.webs.com/

I think I need new friends Pete! And to top it all, today disaster has struck! While putting a coat of matt varnish on 37 408 one of the ''0's'' has disintergrated. And what's the one number I haven't got any left of on the sheet. B*****k's. kev.

Not again! I think my friends are taking the p***! All these kettles and a green 20 are visiting for sound fitting or program ''tweaking''. Normal blue stuff has not stopped completely as 37 408 is now ready for reassembly and weathering. My favorite bit! It may even make an appearance on Coppell at Liverpool show on ''club train'' duties. Kev.

What the ----- !? The're not blue! Fancy a brew? kev.

I am your servant for the weekend Mark; you can make me drive anything!!!!!! I don't know if anyone is interested or not, but seen as though I have to take photo's for our club magazine, I thought I'd stick them on here too. This is the method I use for removing the numbers etc. from Bachmann stuff. It doesn't work so well on other manufactures products though, ask me how I know! The magic ingredient, Brasso!!!! - Just rub over the unwanted number with a small wad and hey presto - All ready for the application of the new decals, after a wash of course, and it leaves a nice shiny surface for them too!- Go on try it! HTH, kev. Website - http://lochdour.webs.com/

Not a lot happening in Loch Dour land at the moment, but I did collect a ''legomanbiffo'' 20 sound decoder at Preston yesterday. This is earmarked to go into Coppell's 20 165 at the present time, as that has got the oldest 3.5 decoder in my fleet, with a poor 20 x 40mm ESU speaker under the roof fan to boot. Having tried bif's 20 on the bench it's plenty loud enough! So a simple speaker fitted in where the battery boxes were cast seems the sensible way to go. So after wheeling the hacksaw the chassis now looks like this - A lot less work than 20 121's bass speaker install! There is a hole drilled through the chassis to allow the speaker wires to go through, which will be sealed after the speaker is installed. After fitting the decoder, I'll try this program out in multi with the other 20's in the fleet and see which it goes best with. I may well end up swapping the chassis with 20 121 or 208! Kev.

Lol, I bet she jumped some when the driver ''gave it some Wigan' in the tunnel! Sorry about the photo! kev.