East Coast Main Line - in the sun

Thats brilliant Dave. The roof interior looks so realistic. Looking forward to the train announcement video - is that hooked up to the RR&Co timetable?

Thanks for the comments. As for the train announcements John, they are just the intercity Deltics at the moment. They will form the backbone of all scheduling on the layout.The announcements are part of the schedules for the trains as they approach Grantham station and I have timed the time taken to get from the storage yards to the station so I can work out their scheduled departure from storage. I thought I had better make some progress on running trains as my new Deltics will hopefully be at least in the UK and Eire shortly.

I have also had a couple of guys who live on one of the local urbanisations come up to see the layout so again running trains were needed. Sods law on that occasion, the announcements didn't work. I later found out that plugging a TV into the laptop at the last minute made the TV speaker the default which was of course set to off.

I have also plucked up the courage to fit a replacement laser head to the bigger of my lasers and tested it out. Luckily nothing blew up. This is what I cut.



Not the best picture unfortunately. It's made of 2mm MDF which is the thickness of my cork underlay so will be quite easy to fit around the engine shed. The inspection pit has now got steps at the ends and a concrete wrap on the top surface. The inner walls are laser engraved brickwork. A note for Petermac, if they may be of use to you pm me and I can drop one or more off in August.

That looks great Dave - and the ability to cut 2mm MDF will be a huge step forward.  :thumbs

Regarding inspection pits - I do have a couple installed already - Peco ones I think so, whilst it's a very kind offer, not really necessary for me.

Looking forward to seeing your pit develop.  :cheers

Just got back from our club meeting which normally takes place down on the coast (about 1hr+ from here). One of the guys asked if I would do him four inspection pits so I gave him the one in the photo and he can have the others next month. Another guy is also into lorries and buses as well. So he said a shorter one would make a great service pit for one of his bus garages - I hadn't thought of that - I guess there might have to be one in the bus garage I have planned.

A vertiable cathederal!!!  Brilliant stuff.

Well not really done much for a while on the layout. Been back to the UK for 7 weeks, which was much longer than normal, in which time we managed to get the ex-mother-in-laws house on the market and bought ourselves a house "for the future". I already have plans for a large shed for the railway (Tinkers End mk2) but the planning authorities were being less than helpful. I think a 8mtr x 5mtr shed will do the trick.

The one bit of model railway related stuff was that I got to pick up a new Deltic I had it delivered to my brothers. Unfortunately the 2nd, from Accurascale direct, left them early July and hasn't been seen since. A replacement is being shipped as I write this - they would have shipped earlier but I thought it best to wait until I was back in Spain. Anyway once back I couldn't resist putting the current Deltic fleet together for a photo op.



for the record, left to tight, Lima (with CD motor replacement and stay-aive), Hornby, Bachmann, Bachmann and Rails (Accurascale). The Accurascale is stunning but is making funny noises when it runs - maye it will sort itself out was it is run in.

Once the replacement arrives I will have my desired complement and East Coast Mainlibne services can start on Tinkers End.

Sorry for the lack of updates but what with spending the summer in the UK and going to the states to see my sister (catching up on some of the trips that were put off due to covid) nothing much has happened on the layout.

I contacted Accurascale to check the replacement for the missing-in-transit Deltic had been despatched, only to be told they were very busy and were waiting for it to arrive in Dublin from the UK (still not sure why they wouldn't let me collect it from the UK as I originaly paced the order on the UK website for UK delivery). Suprise, suprise, as soon as the replacement is shipped the original arrives at the post office. No idea where it had been for two months as there were no tracking entries. Anyway being the honest sort (well mostly) I contacted Accurascale to let them know and said I would be happy to pay half price and keep the original which had a damaged box and some minor loco damage. They had said they were doing a carrier claim so I thought 50-50 was fair as that way we both win. They had other ideas and were only prepared to discount the price a small amount, oh and could I please send it back to Dublin and they would refund the carriage. Forget that, they can have it picked up.

Suffice to say, I now have all 6 Deltics I wanted to run the mainline schedule and the once missing loco is being picked up Monday. Hopefully I'll be able to post a video of some running in the next couple of weeks.

Hi Dave

You must have had a rather hectic summer! Glad you got your Deltics sorted - looking forward to seeing your ECML schedules.

Not sure if you know Train Controller Version 10 has recently been released. It has an entirely new section called Facilities which makes setting up and handling Hidden Sidings, Loco Exchanges, Shunting etc much easier. I hesitated for some time before updating because I have already devised work arounds for such projects. In the end I decided it was best to remain current. There is a significant price rise if you miss an update then subsequently decide you want to catch up. In short if you have V9 you should probably buy the V10 update before the year end. If you have V8 or earlier only buy V10 if the new features will be very useful for you.

Best wishes 

Well it's been a litte while, and although the mojo is not altogether back, there has been a little progress. A lot of the time has been spent changing some of the couplings and sorting out a couple of old Hornby and Lima locos with new CD drive motors and stay-alives.

I have made the front station canopy for the new railway station building but haven't decided on the support pillars yet.



I then started looking for paper wraps for the main building but can't find any for the flat sandstone blocks that some buildings are made of. So I am having a play at laser engraving them with a view to then painting. The next photo shows one end I am trialling. It will have 0.6mm laser cut overlays over the windows to give it some relief and cover up the holes for the floor tabs.



I have also volunteered to have a go at an overall station canopy for a friend. His layout is N gauge and is outside. So 2mm MDF isn't really going to look good for roof spans but it has to be reasonably robust. Anyway here is the kit I have cut so far from 2mm MDF for side walls and 0.9mm Laserboard for roof spans etc. It's overall about 550mm long. The wall that is bottom left has no pillars going to ground as it sits on top of his station building. I am thinking of doing the non-glass parts of the room with just painted brown paper.



And just when you think you are making progress…. Our model railway club came to visit on Thursday, arrival was 14:15. So I was getting all the trains into their starting positions and tidying up when at 13:00 everything stopped. TrainController hung for ages then just closed down. Restarting then showed a track plan but no locos and no schedules aaggghhh. So about 30 minutes after they arrived I managed to get some trains running. Patience is a virtue so they say.

Hi Dave

Its probably too late now but just in case you missed Scalescene Dressed Stone :



I used it on the Post Office at Granby - its quite effective


DaveH_Murcia wrote:

And just when you think you are making progress…. Our model railway  club came to visit on Thursday, arrival was 14:15. So I was getting all  the trains into their starting positions and tidying up when at 13:00  everything stopped. TrainController hung for ages then just closed down.  Restarting then showed a track plan but no locos and no schedules  aaggghhh. So about 30 minutes after they arrived I managed to get some  trains running. Patience is a virtue so they say.

How infuriating!

Been there, done that. There seems to be an invisiblbe switch marked "Murphy" which is automatically switched on when you have visitors.

Have you worked out what happened with TC?  That is unusual, it sounds as though you could see the Switchboard (s) but lost Dispatcher and Engines and Trains?  I assume you are still with V9?

I have had a few crashes ("save" is now permanently on a large post it note!) and once I lost the Engine and Trains file but that was my fault - otherwise I have found TC very stable

Best wishes

Hi John. Thanks for that - helps when you know the correct term for it. So, looking through the files on my PC guess what I found. Sent it to my local printer down town to get a few sheets printed rather than try our little colour printer as I needed a few other things doing as well. I am also getting some Metcalfe chimneys printed too - my challenge for this month is finishing the rows of terraced houses. January is the overall station canopy.

No idea what happened to TC, it's been working fine since then. I can only assume that some power spike or similar upset the Digitrax controller and that it stopped talking to TC. I guess it is one of those things you have to keep an eye on - but I will be taking backups at key points more diligently from now on.

Just thought I would post a little update to show I haven't just been sat here eating mince pies over the Christmas period.

Firstly the build of the N gauge station canopy for my friends layout.



The structure is now almost complete. I will then paint the roof black but then there will be a delay as I am waiting for a local printer to print the brick wraps for the main walls.

The new station building is also on hold pending the wraps from the printer.

So I decided to revisit a project that was put on hold some time ago and ended up cutting it from scratch. The original attempt was using card which wasn't really satisfactory but I now have thin laser board 0.6 and 0.9mm as well as 2mm MDF.



So again the structure for one of the two platform canopies is almost complete and ready for painting. The other is all laser cut but I thought I would get one done first in case any tweaks are required. Some of the supports will go through the platform surface and down to the baseboard. The large pieces towards the left hand end or just to keep it upright during the build. I am going to try using brown paper sprayed grey for the roof.

Finally I have been watching the latest update from Charlie Bishop (Chadwick Model Railway) and he was talking about keeping the enthusiasm going on big projects and how it is so easy to flit around. In an effort to combat my own tendencies I have drawn up a sheet for 2023 and allocated a project for each month with a view to stopping myself starting new projects until that months project is complete. We will have to see how that works.

Hi all. Well now into month 2 and month 1 target didn't get completed. Don't get me wrong the months focus was to finish the 4 rows of terraced house and good progress was made. They now have chimneys, gutters and downpipes and the cobbled track between each of the two pairs of terraces is now complete. With delays from the printer and a week out in the UK it was always going to be tight. Anyway what didn't I get done.

1) Street lights in front of the rows. They are ready and the electronics arrived to connect them for DCC switching - need to experiment with that before fitting. I don't want everything switching on at the same time so I have purchased some boards, controlled by DCC, that can switch up to 10 sets of lights. Each set has a DCC address so I can add them to my schedule within TrainController.

2) The real time gobbler. I want to add flashing round the chimneys. I have tried 3 different approaches already and all have merit but given the sheer number they are going to take an awful lot of time. I just wondered if anyone else had done this and what approach they took. The best effect so far is some laser cut U shaped sections which, when folded, make up the three visible sides of the chimney.

The N gauge canopy I am making for a friend also took up some of the available time. I will post on update on this shortly.

Ah. Found the pictures that I thought I had lost. First the N gauge station canopy I am laser cutting and building for a friend. The doors go just on the side shown as the other side is mid-platform. Some of the doors will be open so I have experimented with engraving both sides. No one will probably notice but I will know it is there.




The other shots show the terraced houses (January's challenge). I am not sure a search on the internet to see how to do flashing on model buildings is the best plan.

Don't know if this will work Dave, but Scalescenes do flashing.

TX00b Roof Flashing - Scalescenes





Ed

[user=1338]Ed[/user] wrote:

Don't know if this will work Dave, but Scalescenes do flashing.

TX00b Roof Flashing - Scalescenes





Ed

I believe it will work. The sheet has a number of variants which I have used.

As always - super work Dave

Thanks for the comments I will have another go with the laser cut ones I have designed as they are the easiest to try If they don't work out then Scalescenes it is. Although I might just downlad them and get some printed "for stock".

Well time for a little update. The laser cut "paper" for the flashing worked to my satisfaction so that's one job off the to do list. I have just been trying to get some locos running and brought out an old Hornby class 37 from the seventies I believe. I remember I changed the motor for a CD drive, added extra power pickups and a stay-alive last year and it run great on the rolling road. Set off great on the track until it came to the first poing then stopped dead. Turns out the BTB was way too narrow but opening it up meant the drive cogs and wheel cogs didn't always engage. A couple of temporary shims on the non-driving end of the axle and of it goes. Nice when you get something to work. The work on my layout continues to dribble along. Given I know there is a move in prospect in the next few years it is becoming harder to get interested in longer term development. I suspect, other than electrics and rolling stock, the layout will end up in a skip.

As well as finishing the N gauge station canopy for a friend I have also designed and made him a laser cut bridge to replace a somewhat damaged bridge on his layout. It is outside and I suspect a cat has been trampling around before he had the screens fitted.

I was also asked by another friend if I could make him a pit head winding gear platform for on top of a building. This is what I cam up with. It worked better than I imagined, so much so that a mk 2 will be finding a place on my layout - well it's been added to the to-do list anyway.


The block base will be hidden or removed once he has the building.
 

Hi all. Well, as usual of late, not a lot to see on the layout upstairs. I have done bits here and there but nothing worth more pics at the moment. I am off back to the UK next week but driving/ferry rather than flying so there may be an opportunity to bring some new bits back. My friend now has the pithead above and is making up suitable buildings for it to sit in. I am quite looking forward to seeing progress and I will see if it is ok to get a photo for here.

The other news is that a local model shop to our "holiday home" in the UK has expressed an interest in using my laser cut designs and also maybe doing bespoke projects / tailored versions for people. When I was last over he showed me his laser but said he didn't really have time to do the design and testing. So I am taking a few examples back in the car for him to put in the shop.

I walked up the steps to the top of the headgear a few times many years ago….when I had a proper job  

A painting (6' x 4') I did for the managers office of Oakdale colliery when I worked there.