Corbs

I knew I had seen this before! http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/67420-Hornby-class-101-tank-engine-is-real/

Thanks! I thought I should post on how the layout operates now I've finally got enough stock and uncouplers to make it work. There should be 1 loco, 8 wagons and 1 brake van. The wagons are in pairs, each with a full and empty version, so: Mogo and Banana van Coal wagons (full and empty) Cattle vans Standard ventilated van The photo shows the layout posed in it's 'finished' state. There are 4 'locations' on the layout, each of the empty wagons starts off in one of these locations. The loco brings the train of full wagons up to the yard gates, and must put each of the full wagons into its appropriate location, and assemble a train of empties at the yard gates for the main line loco to take away (as pictured). The brake van has to be swapped from one end to the other so it is always at the back of the train. It makes for quite an interesting operation! My method so far has usually been to put all the empties into the bottom left siding, then pull the full ones into the yard, and shuffle them all around so I can assemble the empty train ready to go, and only then distribute the full wagons to the locations. It takes quite a long time and I'm sure there must be a cleverer way, but it is fun.

Many moons have passed since I had done some 'proper' work on the layout. The coal hopper has had some finishing touches done which I'm rather pleased with. Having glued the main structure together I felt it needed some reinforcement on the viewing platform. Once that was in and painted, I needed some handrails. Styrene square section rod, with some small holes drilled in it, and handrail wire threaded through I've also added a ladder pinched from a Ratio water tower Since there are no coal mines in Sodor, and there is no MPD here, I feel like coal traffic would have been incoming to the yard, possibly house coal or for industry in Tidmouth, so it may make more sense to have the hopper loading road vehicles? Not sure. At the moment I have some NCB wagons to shunt with, but likely going to replace them with BR house coal hoppers.

Today's efforts on the little Avonside.... A trip to Halfords to get some paint and primer, think I managed to find a good match for its IW&D grey. First into white primer, with some white paint being used for filler. Then after quite a few coats of grey, I couldn't resist posing it to see what it'll look like. Needs a few spots sanding out still but it's taking shape

True, I can probably modify the cylinders to sit a bit lower than standard though, as I am swapping out the No.2001 type for the more traditional style.

Here's how Portbury looks at the moment. Am seeking cylinders, motion etc., if anyone has any ideas then please let me know! Anyway, this shows how the smokebox frontplate and door. I've also added styrene sheet to the bottom of the body to even things out. Am going to try and find some grey paint tomorrow. Note: I know the wheelbase is wrong for Portbury, I'm going to try and hide the leading drivers a bit, and fudge the dimensions.

Yes! V2 valve gear, I was racking my brains trying to think of a suitable donor but you are right, think I should look for some. At the moment I am trying to figure out if I should move the step down in the running plate forward, remove the step entirely or leave as is and add a wheel arch to accommodate the forward drivers. The arches will have to be moved anyway but I am keen on not doing too much surgery as I'd like not to have to repaint it much.

Repeat after me: "I have too many projects, I have too many projects"

Incredible!

Not sure, but I have a Peppercorn A1 body and a Railroad P2 chassis sitting on my desk right now....

A quick appeal to anyone who has used the Narrow Planet slimline conversion kit on their Skarloey models - could I buy the original parts (cylinders, slide bar assembly/crosshead and rod) from you? I think it would be perfect for a project I am working on.

Had my first 'proper' go at weathering with powders last night. I had picked up these vans in a job lot a while ago and am in the process of fitting kadees to them. There are two cattle vans and two ventilated vans, allowed me to show the ex-works and weathered versions side by side. They are very grubby but I do quite like the run down look. I used a paintbrush to apply a powder/water/microsol mix, then a damp cotton bud to rub most of it off, and accentuate streaks (especially on the roof) Only noticed the right hand van's body isn't clipped down properly after I took the pic!

Good question, I have no idea, however the boiler is in fact not stretched in the photoshop , the original photo of 60505 is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:York_Locomotive_Yard_with_A2-2_Pacific_geograph-2827807-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg The only things I changed were adding the missing wheelset, moving the position of the cylinders (and the exhaust pipe from the cylinders to the smokebox) and the changes to the running plate.

That's very nice of you to say, it's nice to be tinkering again! Haven't had a workbench until this last week.

Think I've solved Portbury's safety valve cover. A triang/Hornby 'Lord of the Isles' dome from Peter's Spares, cut down to 5-6mm high, shaped to the saddle tank with a curved file. The GBL 28xx, having already given up its chimney to the NWR 7P, donated the top of its safety valve cover. I filed the top of the dome flat, drilled a hole in both, and used a pin to hold them together while the poly cement did its work. Rather pleased with that

Yes please do keep adding to this thread, inspirational stuff!

This may be too late, but do you turn your router off regularly? I only ask as my father lives in a remote place, and I noticed that his internet connection got worse and worse until it became unusable. It turned out that his habit of turning it off every night meant that the router reported an error to the exchange, and the exchange automatically lowered the internet speed. After a few days it would normally speed up again, but as he kept turning it off, it kept reporting the same error, and once the speed dropped below a certain level, the exchange locks it and it can only be put back to normal by contacting the service provider.

Looks lovely from the pic, unfortunately the video is set to 'private', you need to change it to 'public' or 'unlisted' in the video settings for us to see it

Something I've been rolling around in my head for a while (after seeing Matthew Cousins' photoshop) The P2/1 (or should it be P2/4?)

Loving the size/scale of what you are going for here. Even the stock and buildings on the bare boards makes me envious.

Excellent idea, would love to see pics/vid of it in action.

Yes it would be excellent to see in the flesh. What does the peckett look like at the moment? I thought the weathering on the other two was absolutely spot-on.

Really really love that livery, a fleet of locos and stock always helps 'sell' the world you are creating.

Bonkers! I love it

Graeme King has made this rather lovely 'might have been' GNR prairie.