RBE Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 Never looked back since discovering it a few years back. I wouldn't build track without it now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted June 16, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 16, 2015 Looking Cav ! I may have missed this, but what are using for the track ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 (edited) Thanks Richard. I dont think you missed it I actually dont think I said. The concrete flatbottom track is 2mm association easitrac. I am using FiNetrax bullhead for the yard and I'll be rocking copperclad with flatbottom for the freight loops to represent flatbottom on wood. All have code 40 rail. In other news board 2 is built, yay. I'll post some pics in the morning when the glue has dried and the clamps are off! Edited June 16, 2015 by RBE 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold mudmagnet Posted June 16, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 16, 2015 Thanks Richard. I dont think you missed it I actually dont think I said. The concrete flatbottom track is 2mm association easitrac. I am using FiNetrax bullhead for the yard and I'll be rocking copperclad with flatbottom for the freight loops to represent flatbottom on wood. All have code 40 rail. In other news board 2 is built, yay. I'll post some pics in the morning when the glue has dried and the clamps are off! Thanks Cav. This track does look so much better than the standard Peco. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeT Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 l struggled with SF-00 god knows how you manage in N, watching with interest... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 (edited) The difference is chalk and cheese Richard. I havent even considered Peco in years. Building 2mm is no more difficult than 4mm really, solder paste makes it less painful. Anyway to baseboard pics. Pretty happy so far! Edited June 17, 2015 by RBE 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimleygrid Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Nice boards Cav, looking forward to seeing pairs of 20s, 37s and your Peak passing over them. Oh and for the latter period a 60! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornish trains jez Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Looks good mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 (edited) Cheers chaps. I'm looking forward to seeing all the stock going over it tbh. The one major gap in my stock list at the mo are HAA hoppers for the MGR to Drakelow. Its an iconic train there and a rake that I didnt need for Millers Dale. I've been fishing around for n gauge HAAs but they are really pricey and I need 25! Edited June 17, 2015 by RBE Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 There seems to be a real drought of wagons in all scales at the moment Cav. I'm on the look out for a rake of 4 wheel hoppers which is eitther a choice between the Hornby or old Lima model. Both aren't the greatest of models and need some work but they are just fetching rediculous money on "by it now" or people get stuck into a bidding frenzy pushing up the prices well beyond their value. What happened to going to a model shop and saying can I have 10 of those please. Hope you manage to get a set of HAA's anyway as they certainly are a must for BoT. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Here's a picture of the train I mentioned in my email yesterday Cav. Toton to Didcot domestic coal with HEA,s Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 Thats a great pic. I have a rake of 15 HEAs which will do for that service. I dont have a 56 yet though I do intend to get one. As for HAAs yes the walk in the shop and fish a rake of tatty second hand affairs are long gone. Even second hand N gauge HAA hoppers are still over a 10er each. Its scandalous. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Ouch. 250 big ones. I was so lucky with those Buxton Limestone wagons. 9 for around the £150 mark all mint boxed and never run. Unfortunately the RMC ones are a lot more scarce and going for around £35 per wagon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Yes wagons can get pricey. My rake of RMC roadstone kits cost me £200, with the haulage making the train as a whole around £350. Not cheap by any means. TBH wagon prices are getting very silly IMO. Some are now pushing £40 a wagon. Ok they are nice models but come on people are going to need a rake of them which is quite frankly going to kill the hobby as a whole if things go on the way they are. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Totally agree with you there Cav. As well as the prices they just never seem to produce enough of anything these days. We seem to have gone backwards instead of forwards. It's funny though how Bachmanns Polybulks never stayed on the shelves very long when they first appeared but, with the new inflated prices they seem to be hanging around a bit longer. It does seem to be Bachmann and Hornby who want to charge these silly prices though. I'm going to be really interested to see what these ICI hoppers are like from Oxford Rail as they are shown at a very reasonable £25.00. Also Dapol still haven't entered the realms of silly prices either. Whether the MJAs & HIAs will be any more expensive when they appear remains to be seen but even they are still under the £30.00 mark. interesting times ahead me thinks..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Jason T Posted June 19, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 19, 2015 The flip side is that we may see a resurgence of kit manufacturers and people turning their hands to building rakes of the wagons they need / want. A different era to the one you chaps depict but look at the price of the Bachmann Tube wagon compared to the Parkside kit which is a relatively easy kit to build, includes components to build different variants and builds up to be easily as good as the Bachmann one, probably better. Sure, it means painting and numbering them but you then get more choice on running numbers. Not that long ago, if you wanted decent rolling stock, you had to build kits or modify RTR (which some may argue is more complex than building kits). I picked up some Bachmann open wagons recently (they were Dave Shakespeare's) and the underframes, especially the brake rigging is just awful with solid, chunky mouldings, seams across the bufferbeams, etc. Some may consider it sacrilege but I will be replacing the under frames with Parkside and Red Panda ones. With the growth of 3D printing, etc., the cost of RTR could actually be good for the hobby in a roundabout way, and we may end up with a lot more prototypes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Those are fair points Jason and I for one as anyone on here will know am quite happy to built kits or scratchbuild items of rolling stock to fill a need. In fact just the other day I was drawing up plans to scratchbuild a rake of bogie tankers as although not the most expensive wagons in the world I can build em out of plastic tube and such for probably half the cost per wagon overall. Not sure if I will yet but that fact it crossed my mind to do it is concern enough. I will probably use NGS kits for my departmental stock too. I can assure you, if I could 3D print a rake of HAAs cheaper than I could buy them I would do it in a flash! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 All of what you say there Jason's makes a lot of sense. If the type of wagons I required were available in kit form I would certainly have a go. Well plastic ones at least, not sure if I could manage brass at the moment. This is the first time Ive done a layout where I require specific types of stock so it's quite frustrating really. Why oh why did I sell all those Honby and Lima PGAs all those years ago. Probably in the hope something better would come along. Would have made some great detailing projects now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calnefoxile Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I'm going to be really interested to see what these ICI hoppers are like from Oxford Rail as they are shown at a very reasonable £25.00. Unfortunately these are in OO not N. These are type of wagons I would like to have a rake of, but they are currently not available unless you can find some old ISM kits somewhere. Regards Neal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 All you can hope for Neal, if they are a success for Hattons and Oxford which I'm sure they will be, then they may decide to do in N with enough pestering. Marcus Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Im planning a 3D printed version at some point but not sure how much it will cost until its done. I dont need any for burton but might be nice on Millers Dale. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Cheers chaps. I'm looking forward to seeing all the stock going over it tbh. The one major gap in my stock list at the mo are HAA hoppers for the MGR to Drakelow. Its an iconic train there and a rake that I didnt need for Millers Dale. I've been fishing around for n gauge HAAs but they are really pricey and I need 25! I have an unused rake of HAAs I may be interested in getting rid of. I bought them for sentimental reasons over several years, as they were really iconic around the Notts/Derbys coalfield where I live - but I really have no use for them. Might sell or swap for something more modern etc. PM me if you are interested - though I will be on holiday for a week starting tomorrow. They are in various liveries, as I was originally thinking of modelling an early EWS train. Burton-on-Trent is a great idea for a layout. I am really impressed by the speed with which you are getting on with it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 Ok a bit more done tonight. I now have the alignment dowels in and so onto track for the south end. Both main lines laid and looking pretty good. On the north board I elected to create a solder joint in the track but on this board I dont deem it necessary as the sleepers keep the track aligned pretty well. I will just give each section its own dcc power feed. Looks better too. I may remove the copper joining sleepers on the north board yet. I'll decide a little down the line I think, next on the adjenda will be the pointwork construction which I shouldnt think will take too long, these will be controlled by servos under the board which I'm aiming to drive with an Arduino to run both the route setting and signal operation. Heres 47436 testing the tracks over Moor Street! 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 (edited) Excellent work Cav, I can see Moor St now, I worked at Kia, opposite the old Moor St Bridge for a couple of Months in early 2006 and prior to that at Peugeot which backed onto the line opposite the Football Ground, and the volume of Steel, Coal, Stone, Freightliner, Bins, Oil etc passing over the line in those days was amazing. Loads of 37's, 31's, 60's, 47's etc. as well as the usual 66's Almost every morning in 2005 when I was at Peugeot a 37 or 66 would come up on the slow line with 5 French Canvas side round topped wagons? come to a halt behind Peugeot, the when clear it would reverse out across the up and down lines and onto the Down Slow and then into the sidings opposite the old Wagon Works, (now Nemesis), one time it was a West Coast Railways 37 in immaculate condition. Edited June 20, 2015 by Andrew P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBE Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 Yes Andy it seems a great place to see variety. Hmmm gonna cost me in stock this, haha. Trains being shunted back to the wagon works sounds like it would add some operational interest. I could even use the sidings by the station on occation for wagons going for work there. I was talking to Marcus the other day and he also mentioned train run arounds on the branch cord just south of the station. Would be interesting to see a train go south and its loco run light engine back to the station to then fetch the train back the other way as though heading to the works. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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