Just admiring the prototype picture at the beginning of your thread again,and I've noticed a mistake!
 It can't be the 30's,cos its a British Rail scene.The 14xx has its number on the smokebox door,which only happened after nationalisation.Also,when these locos originally appeared in the 30's,they were numbered 48xx.The autocoach is also not chocolate and cream!!!
On the plus side,though,the layout is looking awesome….and its good to hear your son appears to have caught the bug.looking forward also to seeing that diarama develop.
 Cheers,John.B.

Marty,
I've had problems with the Dapol 0-4-2Ts on gradients myself,and they're not the greatest at pulling anything too long,even on the flat! I've also heard of other people having probs with the dapol prairies,but I've not experienced any,and I've got 3 of them.
 I was wondering if some of the problems stem from the light-weight nature of the locos,esp.round the pony wheels.Maybe adding some weight to the locos could be the answer?
 Farish locos aren't as good looking as the Dapol stuff,but they're heavier and more reliable.
 I've noticed that in N gauge,it seems to be the more lightweight locos that derail,jump points,and generally don't give good tractive power.If you can add weight,and get all the wheels down firmly on the track,these events should be less of a problem (I think!)
Cheers,John.B.

I reckon you're right John, post nationalisation for sure and I'll check to see if I can get a better date before updating the caption.

At some stage I'm going to gather the courage to wriggle the body of one of my Dapol 0-4-2 tanks and see about adding some more weight.

I've had the same problems with the Prairies too, the haul more than the 14XX's but still slip on my 1:45 grades. Not suprising really!

Little to report in the last week, we went away for the Easter Weekend and up until then I was flat out in the shops selling Easter Eggs.

I created a 3D CAD model of my diorama base last night to see if that would help me with some of the planning.

Haven't even done any "testing" on the layout in the last week.
cheers

Just updated the caption on the "inspiration" picture on page one.
Thanks GJG
cheers

Well Marty…….Here I am again,the "Inner voice" of your concience,making you feel guilty.What's been happening on Newcastle Emlyn?
   We needs our updates! And what about the Ixion 'Manor'?
Are you holding out on us??? Its been far too quiet!!!
   Come on,now…..:twisted::twisted::twisted:

Cheers,John.B.

P.S.Hope you've had a lovely Christmas,and a nice break in NZ.

I've taken an RDO today (and yes Tracy does know about it) and am working on the Newcastle Emlyn layout at last.

I've finally bitten the bullet and decided that I can reduce the severity of the grades that my locos stuggle with.

Easy to say in one sentence. sheesh, the reality is vastly different.

Progress photos and discussions shortly, I'm off to Bunnings to get some more blue wire as I've run out.

The Ixion Manor (as discussed elsewhere) was out of scale due to a manufacturing fault. The one delivered was beautiful… until it fell off the layout and destroyed the cab. When Ixion get the new one sorted out and delivered photos will be posted.

The Pentrecourt diorama is now just waiting for a thin layer of resin to be poured into the rivers but the manufacturer of the resin recommends that it NOT be used in temperatures below 23 deg C.
My room temperature is and has been for weeks around 16 deg C, so I think I'll wait for spring before attempting it. I'd hate to b##g*r it up.

The Three Rivers experiment is complete and just needs the final photos and writeup done.

Under construction sections in the Module standards need completing.

My module needs to be started.

So much to do… so little time.

Ah well… at least I'm getting some modelling done.

 

Photos or no photos, this is more like it!  :lol:

 Your river will be worth the wait.

Mike

hi marty

glad to see you at it again;-)

Good lad Marty!!! This is going to be worth waiting for,I just know it is.Lots of pictures too,please!!!:twisted::lol::lol::lol:

Cheers,John.B.:thumbs

Great to see you back on the main layout Marty

cheers Brian

Henllan Station

Further inspiration.

 

The layout has been languishing while the diorama, Three Rivers test and Module standards were being worked on.

 

For ages the flat station board at Henllan looked like this…




 

Mother, bless her heart, was kind enough to surf the web with me for my birthday in May and purchase a few “presents” that found their way onto the layout.

 

The Hellan station area, looking from the Pencader end, has had some temporary buildings added to speed things along. Scratchbuilt buildings are planned eventually.
The Goods Shed, Signal Box, Lockup Hut and Chapel from the Hornby Lyddle End range. The Green Grove Milk Factory is being developed to on the right with a Kestrel kit under construction and a Metcalfe factory card kit behind, also under construction.





 

Close up of the goods shed and signal box.




 

Green Grove Milk Factory area.




 

All of the above, including rolling stock was packed away this last weekend, the station board lifted and the branchline re-aligned to reduce the climb from the lower level to the higher one.

 

Photos tomorrow I hope, it was too wet today to bring the camera into work on the push bike.

Ahah! Now you're talking!  I like them all, but especially the milk factory [I thought that was cows]  and the lovely little tankers alongside. Looking forward to seeing it weathered, as you are too, no doubt. Trees and grass up the left look good too. I like the upside-down print too :lol:

 Mike

Thanks Mike.

I had to put the print upside down to get the station orientation right :roll: 

Looking forward to making some progress now although the focus is going to be on getting the wiring and control panel for Henllen sorted in the short term.

The grass is that "furry dishcloth" stuff again. Temporary just get the feel of the layout.

Onwards…

 

[user=8]MikeC[/user]  I like the upside-down print too :lol:

 Mike


I noticed that as well, thought is was because you are on the other side of the world, ie upside down

Any photos of the new work Marty

There are some nice buildings there, Marty.  Are they kits?  Love the screws holding the track down.  No doubt they come out after ballasting? :thumbs

[user=285]Alan[/user] wrote:

Any photos of the new work Marty
________________________

Tomorrow hopefully Alan, or the day after… got another one of those 100+ km/h cold fronts coming in tonight.

I patched a leaky roof for a grandmother last night but SES has been pretty quite over the last couple of weeks thankfully. Tomorrow MIGHT be different.

Soon as I can.

[user=269]MaxSouthOz[/user] wrote:

There are some nice buildings there, Marty.  Are they kits?  Love the screws holding the track down.  No doubt they come out after ballasting? :thumbs

The factory buildings are kits Max, the front one is a Kestrel plastic kit and hiding behind that is a Metcalfe card kit.

I like using the screws, it makes track adjustment easy, just ease off on the tension, re align, re-tension.

The screw heads are small enough not to interfere with the wheel flanges and, yes,  once the ballast is dry they are removed and the holes filled with a little dob of ballast and glue.

Yes.  I think it's a great idea.  The slots between the ties will work well for side adjustment.  Pan heads might be even better. :thumbs

[user=19]Marty[/user] wrote:

[user=269][/user]I like using the screws, it makes track adjustment easy, just ease off on the tension, re align, re-tension.   The screw heads are small enough not to interfere with the wheel flanges and, yes,  once the ballast is dry they are removed and the holes filled with a little dob of ballast and glue.

That's an execellent idea Marty - it's filed away for future reference :thumbs

Can't remember where I got the idea from… another modeller obviously, from a magazine I think.

I adopted the method at the time and haven't looked back since.

Glad it helps, what goes around, comes around. :lol: