L49

Finally managed to find and upload the Norwich Tram. This is a bit of a mix up, the superstructure largely being plasticard, with printed card skin for the fancy panels, but it's a good example of how far you can push a silhouette. It's certainly revolutionised my scatchbuilt work. I'm really impressed by the card wagons and vans. I have been thinking about having a go myself to produce some private owners to go on our new club layout. I have tended to use less detailed methods for my own 4mm scale card rolling stock, but they look okay. I've posted a couple of shots below. These are both straight from the kit SLM vehicles with a few extra whitememtal castings, and some scrap card for the rainstrips and steps. They are both on Bachmann Mk 1 bogies.

Yes she is, but for the LU150 event she has been masquerading as 6141 with an 81a shedplate to make her a London Engine. I think according to the EOR website 4141 actually spent her entire working life around Gloucester.

As Promised, a few shots from Epping Ongar's LU150 events Firstly, the star of the show waits to be detached from the rear of the once-a-day 'heritage' working to Coopersale, which required top and tailing from Ongar. Met 1 was taken off the back at at North Weald ready to work the next down train. L150 at the other end of the train waiting to leave for Ongar. I have to confess since chasing them around on the Met, and having a couple of days at the EOR, I'm getting quite a soft spot for L150, and it certainly gives me ammunition in the discussions about the best liveries for GWR engines which go on at the club! Met No 1 waits in platform 1 at North Weald to take the Mk1 and Mk2 set back down to Ongar. Later in the afternoon, the N2 waits at North Weald on the same set. The first shot from last Friday sees L150 passing Blake Hall heading for Ongar Met 1 and L150 return from Ongar on the non stop to Coopersale Later in the afternoon 1744 waits to come off the heritage set at North Weald. Met No1 waits at Ongar on the last train of the evening on Friday, double headed back to North Weald with 6141 masquerading as 4141, My attempt at an arty shot of L150 going onto the coal road at North Weald while Met No1 waits to come off the train. It didn't help that L150 decided to pull forward while I was lining the shot up! Finally Met 1 and 4141 pose at North Weald. I hear that Met 1 is still at the EOR next weekend as well, although I don't know whether the Dreadnoughts and Jubilee will be there too, but it would be well worth a look if anyone is in the area.

I would recommend anyone who wants a good day out to get over to the Epping-Ongar before the weekend is out. I have spent two very happy days there over the past two weeks, which have more than made up for my awful attempts at getting any decent pictures of Steam on the Met. Romping up the bank towards Blake Hall with Met No1 barking through the woods whilst enjoying the comfort of a first class compartment in a dreadnought is just about the best fun you can have whilst still fully clothed. The staff are great, the operation is professional, the level of restoration is seriously impressive considering the railway has only been operating under this management for a year, and more than that, it's so close to town. Photos will follow (once I've got them off the camera)

... What about that young Mr Gibbons at the Savoy. I'm sure he arrived by Cunard...

Thanks for the feedback and comments. There are a few things which came to light at St Albans which will hopefully allow us to run thing a bit better. one of which it not to skimp on the point accessory switches. The other unfortunately is that all Jouef stock ought to be re-chassied! By 10am on Saturday morning, we had no motive power, and we only managed to keep things moving with the help of a BR black J52, and the loan of Pete the Elaner's new Fairburn tank! I managed to beat the Y51700 into some sort of operating condition by about 3pm, but the 040TA and the 040D were less than useless. This in part is down to wheel profile, and I should have known better than to use code 75, but I wanted to go for the finescale and lightly laid look. however another key problem (with the whole fleet) is pickups. They are truly awful! I am going to have to replace the chassis on the Tracteur with a black beetle before it comes out again. I have a nasty feeling I will have to get new frames, rods and valvegear etched for the others, and start from scratch, unless I can dismantle them cleanly and turn the existing wheelsets down on the lathe. Not looking forward to the next month or so!!!

I couldn't quite manage Met No. 1 and the Ashburys, but we did have our own 150th birthday tribute on the new club layout. Here's L49 with a rake of Dreadnoughts... And here is a nice line up of Met survivors. L54 was there too, but somehow I managed not to get her in any pictures!

A Little spoiler for St Albans this weekend... We got the layout up at the club last night, and got a few trains running. Jouef stock is really not nice when it comes to smooth running qualities. I have abandoned the idea of bringing the 040TA, as she simply won't run! The Piko 040D did manage to pass muster though, and here she is waiting for permission to pass the limit of shunt, while the crew look out to see what the Gendarme is up to. I think he must be about to book some trespassers! We also wished the Met a very happy 150th birthday! I hope she managed to keep condensing all the way through the channel tunnel!!!

The very last shot I think was either Praed Street or Notting Hill Gate

That's definitely the old Harrow kit. I've built a few of them. They go together really nicely, but they are pretty heavy. One spud will do the trick if you get the weight directly over it, and fit some pickups to the trailing bogie. If you are running them in pairs, then it will work fine, just keep the wagons light between them! Also get hold of some photos of the loco you want to build, as the Harrow tooling is generic, and not quite right for any prototype. Unfortunately I only found that out after building three, by which time I had gone in for card anyway!

It was April 1992. I only remember that because we were in Paris on my 13th birthday. There was still quite a lot of activity on parts of the PC then, and Bvd Massena was still open. I remember track bashing the line from Ave de Vincennes to Rue d'Avron and Charonne, and nobody batted an eyelid. Last time I tried that, about 10 years ago, I got slung off by the owners of the Fleche d'Or cafe at Charonne. There will be some more pictures on the thread later this afternoon. I burned some midnight oil (and even a few fluid ounces of 2am oil) last night to get all the wiring finished and running. Only two wires crossed, which for me working in the middle of the night ain't bad. All the weeds and ground cover is done, it just needs the various bits of rubbish strewn across the viaduct now, and a member of staff riding on the bufferbeam of the YoYo just to make sure that there are still rails beneath the grass! Irritatingly, having got the 040D, and 040TA working really nicely at the club on Thursday evening last week, I couldn't get them to run last night. The only loco which ran perfectly was my old Acho 131TB. Says something for a Hornby Dublo mech!

I do wish your layout was exhibitable. This really is some of the best architectural work I've ever seen on a model railway, especially in 2mm scale. I absolutely love the new parade of shops. I used to go past the prototype if I was travelling into central London for work, and I always thought that they would make a gorgeous model. I love the way you have done the painted adverts and signs on the wall, and the shop interiors are absolutely exquisite. Truly inspirational!

I Know! One of these days I will manage to find someone willing to babysit the whole tribe and we will get a weekend away. I remember my first day on the PC ended up chasing 230G353 around. The best bit was, we had no idea she was running. The first inkling we had that anything was going on was when we were half way between Bvd Ornano and Ave St Ouen, and saw clag shooting out of each tunnel vent. Needless to say, we were too far from either end of the covered way to be in a position to see what was going on. She did the same to us at Orleans Ceinture about 2 hours later, after which we found someone with the timings, and managed to give chase! I think we managed to get some shots at La Rapee, Grenelle, and finally back at Ornano going in the opposite direction. That's a day which we will never be able to repeat.

That photo was one of the inspirations for the layout! I haven't got room for a whole rake of MP59 stock, but I can deliver one car at a time, and take away some Sprague stock too! Don't know whether all the stock will be available by St Albans though. Hopefully at least one Metro car will be finished.

I shall have to write myself a stern note to remind me never to state that a small layout is intended to be a 'quickie'! Whatever else the Paris project has been, it has not been particularly quick, although to be fair a lot of that has been due to moving house and trying to get Sumatra Road exhibitable for Watford next month. Anyway, the pressing deadline of St Albans in a fortnight dragged me back to life just before Christmas, and I have been using some of the holiday to get Rue Sidi Brahim back on track... This is the extent of the layout. it only measures 6'x1' including the fiddle yard which is behind/underneath the big block of flats at the left hand end. This is a view looking down the ramp towards the metro level fiddle yard. The railings need some wire reinforcement, and there are large billboards to go on the stretch of embankment between the top of the retaining wall and the base of the Ceinture arches. The Locotracteur on a trial run to test the track after ballasting. I wonder whether anyone has told RATP that it is making an unauthorised trip onto their metals! Looking along the single track leading to the depot. There is a Jouef 040TA just visible outside the shed in the distance. It runs like a dog! Turning round and looking the other way from the depot gates, this is the view of the old Ceinture station perched on the viaduct. I couldn't resist having some nameboards still up. If it's good enough for Rue d'Avron, it's good enough for me! At track level, the station looks like this... The buildings have been taken from Avenue de Vincennes, although I have had to shorten them very slightly and rearrange the stairwells. The railings around the stairwells will be changed once I have had the etches done for the correct pattern fancy ironwork. Once the track has been airbrushed, the weeds and ground cover can be added, and this section is basically complete. Finally the ubiquitous Y51200 from Nogent Vincennes makes a light engine trip along the spur and passes the flats at the end of the platform. the low relief buildings in the distance will be much higher once they are glued in, as one of the lines into the fiddle yard runs beneath them. they have only been perched into position to get an idea how it will look once they are airbrushed. That's it for now, but there will be more by the end of the week!

managed to get it to cut 10 thou, although I had to set it to cut twice on the 'cut page' screen. I have put 20 thou through and scored it before finishing off with a scalpel. I really need to post the pics at some point. I've not uploaded them yet!

It doesn't matter Old Son... It's available now! Not only that, don't knock Photoshop too much, those new photo-realistic viaducts and platform walls on the French layout don't look too bad.

Quick update on this one. Stripped the wiring back to the accessory switch at one end and hey presto, short cured, that was until I tried to cross from the WB Met to the DN MWL, then it obviously all just died! (Don't know why I didn't see that coming!) I think I have found why it shorts, but I don't know quite how I'm actually going to cure it properly. I have a feeling some major surgery is going to be required.

But possibly not on the Inner Circle!

I wondered why the station board looked so clear when I called in this afternoon! I hope D5900 was tripcock fitted to comply with regulations for working over the westbound Metropolitan line (even if there does appear to be a temporary lack of DC power provided) I have started sorting out the rats nest of wiring under the crossover board this afternoon, waiting for a hall booking who didn't turn up (I love some people!) The short on the single slip has reappeared, I really can't figure out what is causing it. Might have to strip the switch wiring back and start again on that one. Fun, fun,fun...

I agree Bastille would make a fantastic project, and I would be tempted myself, but it would have to be BIG! Locos and stock might be tricky too. I was lucky enough to get hold of an old Hornby Acho 131TB cheap on ebay a few years ago, which is waiting to be detailed to make an appearance on the layout, as most of the motive power will be based at Nogent Vincennes, but the push-pull sets might require a bit more thought... It's terrible the amount of time I have spent over the last couple of weeks indulging in vintage cinema featuring Paris. There are some fantastically evocative scenes captured on camera which I would love to be able to capture on the model, as well as some quite rare locations. If anyone is interested visit the website http://www.petiteceinture.org who have a really useful filmography section, and some very nice photographic archives. One bit of detective work I did myself last night which isn't featured on the website is some scenes for the Jaques Tati film Mon Oncle which appear to be shot on and around the former St Ouen docks branch which met the Ceinture just west of Ave St Ouen station, and of course the classic shot in The Red Ballon where he runs across the footbridge at Menilmontant station just as a train goes underneath. The more I do this, the more I am feeling a trip back to Paris coming on. We haven't been since before the children were born; maybe now would be a good time!

I thought I'd start this topic here as it is rather a niche project, and is a prototype completely new to us. We have always had a hankering to build a continental layout, and for quite some time we have been looking around for a new exhibition project to replace our old Sidney Street NLR layout. Ever since my Dad first discovered the railways of Paris in the late 70s, he has had a growing interest in the lines of the CDF Petite Ceinture, and from my love of LT has grown an equal, if not slightly stronger love of the Paris Metro, so we decided to combine the two with some old baseboard frames which have been languishing at the back of my parent's garden shed for a couple of years (they once supported my 00 layout Shoreditch ELR which was on RMweb about 4 years ago). The new layout is 6'x1', and depicts a spur off the Ceinture south of Bel Air, heading towards Reuilly on the Bastille line (theoretically built instead of rather than in addition to the actual curve!). The single station on the line is situated above a backstreet called Rue Sidi Brahim, but the station takes its name from the nearby Avenue de Daumesnil. The passenger service finished with the rest of the Ceinture in the 30s, but the singled spur has been retained for stock transfers to the nearby Metro depot. So far I have only started scenic work on about a foot of layout at the right hand end, so this is really just a taster. The viaduct is a copy of the stretch between Pont de Flandres and the Ourq canal. The Locotracteur is the basic Jouef model with a bit of extra detailing and a repaint. Still need to cover up the holes in the axleboxes though! The office in the depot yard is a scaled down version of the goods office which until fairly recently graced the north end of the platforms at Avenue de Vincennes, even down to having one end rebuit and losing it's fancy bargeboards. This and the low relief depot building still need to meet the airbrush, and I have just noticed the 'ding' in the end of the roof. I'd better sort that out sooner rather than later! I want this layout to be about atmosphere, and I have to admit I am quite happy with the job so far. The cafe is taken from one which actually stands on the corner of Rue Sidi Brahim (one of the great benefits of 'street view') The posters are mostly originals, the only exception being the Feu de Jardin, which is a very old in-joke made over...Entent Cordiale! Finally, this is the front of the main depot building. it is only 25mm deep, and is tucked away behind the end of the fascia just to give the impression that there is a larger building there. It is based on the main depot building at La Villette, until recently the last bastion of the Sprague stock tracteurs, which are now unfortunately a thing of the past.

I haven't had much chance to do any work on the layout recently, but I did call round with the camera to try to get some new shots of the work that Dad has done, and to get some shots that you will never be able to see from the viewing side. I will start with a couple of these, looking along Mile End Road with the recently finished buildings on the south side. This is Floreston Street bridge Finally a couple of shots of White Horse Lane bridge. The tower in the background of the first shot is the Mile End Methodist hall, otherwise known as 'The Lycett'. Finally, opposite the main bulk of the Lycett is the one contribution I have actually been able to make to the layout since the last pictures were posted. This is Cohen's stores on White horse Lane. It looks like Mr Cohen had quite a retail empire along this street, as the red-brick building in the background was also part of Cohen's stores, although it had obviously fared a bit better during the war!

I have had a look around the etched and whitemetal manufacturers. The trouble is the cast brackets used by the Met were unique, and there is nothing even vaguely similar out there. At one point, in desparation, we did consider casting our own, but in the end we considered the compromise to work pretty well.

Sorry, I missed this question the other day. We are intending to run something a little earlier than the A60 stock, and we are trying to get away from the 'transition' era look, as it is rather overdone, and over catered for. That's not to say that a BD with a rake of Mk1 suburbans will not appear, and may even be witnessed passing an A60 stock set and a DMU, but on the whole the operation will be based on late 40s/early 50's practice. Passenger working on the widened lines will be in the hands of N2s on the GN services, and condensing Fowler 2.6.2 tanks on the Midland. Freight will largely be handled by J50s, J52s, N1s from the Eastern, Condensing 3Fs from the Midland, and hopefully some interesting Southern locos slipped in occasionally. I know the regular traffic over the widened lines was always handled from the north, but there are some fantastic pictures that have been published in the past of SECR D class and LBSC C2x classes working around Snow Hill, and even as far down as the Smithfield curve. There is a siding on the up MWL for a banker, this will be shared between GN and Midland locos in the same way as Farringdon was, although it will be rather difficult to simulate the changeover from one to the other at Dusk and Dawn as they did on the prototype. The LT lines will have even more variety in a way, as specific stock will be allocated to specific duties. Aylesbury trains will be formed of loco haled stock in the hands of a standard Met electric. Uxbride trains will be formed from F stock, and watford services will be formed of MW stock. Circle traffic will be shared between Met 1913/21 stock, and shiny new trains of P stock. Hammersmith trains will be formed of O stock. If we are running a sunday service, then I'm sure the District won't mind us borrowing a rake of Q stock as a track mileage balancing move either. Other traffic coming in and out on the Met lines will include GW services to and from Smithfield, which will be in the hands of condensing panniers and my little Metro tank. Any engineers trains on the Met will be hauled by the F class, or possibly and E. I think it might be rather a long haul for the little X class all the way from Neasden, but I'm sure she can make an appearance at some point. The sole survivor of the A class, L45 can of course roll through from time to time as well. It's a shame the K class were never cleared south of Finchley road (non to mention that they were all sold to the LNER and in line to be scrapped by this time anyway) as I think one would look rather fine working over the Inner Circle. Maybe an excuse for some modellers license... I have a brace of LT panniers which might appear occasionally, but like A60 stock, and Baby Deltics, they are a little too close to 'transition' for my taste. I may have to built a much more up to date diorama for them at some point in the future! Lillie Bridge 1971 anyone?