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I have been busy with the razor saw and a spare class 44 body shell. It was cut into three parts, just behind the cab doors, then a 5mm and a 8mm slice were removed from the centre section before it was welded back together. The buffer beams and shrouds have been built up with plasticard and filler. The unnecessary roof detail was filed off, and new detail added from adhesive white labels. The chassis consists of a Union Mills tender drive unit, fitted inside class 37 side frames, and a spare class 37 bogie at the other end. There is much detail to be added as I go along - but do you know what it is yet? (Paul knows). The battery boxes need to be added under the side frame members The buffers and shrouds need fitting next Some more roof detail to go on. It will be BR green with a grey roof, long grey stripe and late crests when finished. Kevin.

Today, with the increased condensation in the mornings, I have removed most of the stock from the shed and put it to bed in the shoe boxes. I have retained some Lima mineral wagons and plastic wheeled coaches to give me something to run during the winter months. Back to building wagons and coaches over the coming months! Kevin.

Mickleover will be at the Huddersfield Railway Modellers show, at Holmfirth on Sat 29th and Sun 30th Oct. See you there!

The J50 has been progressing, it now has transfers, and is awaiting the front steps, coal, injectors and much weathering. It also needs the buffer shanks painting black yet. Ian Kirk Gresley suburban coaches are coming along - these were built when we were on holiday!

Just in case you thought I had gone very quiet recently, I have been building 13 Peco 15' tanks wagon kits, painting and weathering them, and weathering a Standard 5. The 5 looked much too clean to begin with. The tanks were painted with gloss acrylic, then weathered with matt dark brown, matt light grey, and matt black. I will post better pictures when the mist clears from the East Coast!

Here are a couple of views of the layout on holiday with us last week! Sits on the rear window ledge and a spacer from the table. Folds up into a little box. I have also added an additional siding around the back using 2 more set track points,so I can now store and run three trains.

The J50 now has a coat of satin black on the body, as is gently cooking in the conservatory. The 45 degree heat in there has finally set the Humbrol satin black! - took 3 days.

Here are some photos of the new lighting rig. It is 10' long and consists of two lengths of 112mm "square" guttering, fitted with stop ends and a home made coupler in the middle. The lamps are 4 x slimline T5 18w Fluorescents as used under kitchen cabinets. These can be bought off a well known internet auction site, including post and packing for £29. They are also 2700k day light tubes, so are the right colour. The fittings interlock at the ends, and the kit includes the mains cable and three inter connecting cables, so it is good value. The increase in lighting over the LED's has to be seen to be believed.The support and end caps, The centre coupler, Let there be light! - And the light was good! I also added the missing walkways between the two platforms. I was taken to task at Doncaster by a person who was quite upset that my N gauge passengers might come to grief crossing the tracks. So as far as I can tell, the layout is ready to be packed up again, prior to Holmfirth in Oct.

I have decided to make a new lighting rig as I have found that the LED's just do not have enough oomph. This consists of 4 " square guttering, fitted with stop ends, inverted, with fluorescent light fittings inside. I will post photos as soon as I have the rig complete. The layout is set up in the garage at present for fault finding and rectification before the next show in Oct at Holmfirth. I shall also be adding the missing timber crossings to both ends of the platforms.

Hi Don, I like the 2mm layout being built in the motorhome. I have an n gauge layout which was built and is used in the motorhome - see Four Arches Halt on RM Web. It was also at the Goathland show last weekend, being operated by my brother-in-law Peter. We have yet to see someone build/operate a live steam layout in a motorhome or caravan - unless someone knows different! It is all good fun. Kevin.

Glad to be of help Mike - now you can get building!

Don't Forget - Whitby Model Railway Show, at Goathland Village Hall, Sat/Sun 23/24th of July. Free parking, light refreshments and only £1 entry.

Don't Forget - Whitby Model Railway Show, at Goathland Village Hall, Sat/Sun 23/24th of July. Free parking, light refreshments and only £1 entry.

Don't Forget - Whitby Model Railway Show, at Goathland Village Hall, Sat/Sun 23/24th of July. Free parking, light refreshments and only £1 entry.

Been away for 10 days in Mid Wales, doing the Severn Valley and Gloucestershire/Warwickshire Railways and The Forest of Dean Railway, where we saw Met No1 in steam. Much walking and cycling, and in the evenings, I built an O gauge Gresley 51' brake third ! Well - what else do you do?

The simplest are usually the best!

Hi Derek - glad the controller seem to work now. I was out yesterday, so I will give you a ring this week. The picture of the the Midland Single brings back memories - I was one of those who cleaned down and painted the inside of the frames red on 673 when it was at Butterley many years ago - 1975 ish I think. I was re acquainted with it at York. Keep up the good work. I have to sort out how to make my signals operate, so I may take a close look at your mechs. Kevin.

Injectors and brake gear to go on next - once I have made them. Then I will fix the cab roof on and fill the gaps. The last parts to fit will be guard irons, vac pipes and those open front foot steps.

The J50 is progressing - I now have cut off all the moulded on side handrails, drilled the holes and fitted the new pillars and wire. I will post photos later - it's nice and sunny for photography today. I then got busy with the soldering iron and made the coal rails.

Thanks coachmann, - I had forgot that the low pressure cylinders are the only ones connected to the blast pipe! Kevin

Hi Derek, how about adding some speakers under the baseboard and having a steam sound generator wired to the controller? All the Midland engines have 2 cylinder beats, with the exception of the compound on starting up.

A nice job Derek. I am building an old CCW cast white metal J50, with a rigid chassis, and back scratcher wipers, - as it is so heavy, it just irons the track out as it runs. My A4 works on the American system - the engine is live to one side and the tender live to the other, with an insulated draw bar of course.

Thanks Paul for the comments. I like designing and building these small layouts. They do not take a great deal of time to build or finish. I am working on the next idea which may be 6'6" long and 24" wide, folding in half. Yet again based on an old flush paneled door. Kevin

Here is an over head shot showing the two set track points in the fiddle yard behind the scenes. The layout folds where the central divider can be seen. The black back -blocker lifts out.

This is another of my small layouts. It is a roundy roundy n gauge layout measuring 27" x 24" and it folds in half! It was inspired by the layout Littleton Curve, which was built by Grant Hickman. It has a hidden loop behind the back scene which means trains can be alternated, and uses electro uncoupling so shunting can take place in the siding and the platform. Although very simple, it gives hours of fun in the motorhome, and doubles up as a test track for my n gauge locos and stock. Overall view without stock A5 on passenger North Eastern interloper Pom Pom to the rescue The layout will be seen at the Whitby Model Railway Club Show, at Goathland on Sat/Sun 23/24th July.