00 gauge North London WCML

Hi Dave just picked up your layout thread, great layout. Nice to see a layout with overhead wireskeep up the good work
Andy

Apart from the high standard of your modelling and the wondrous things you "make tick" with your electrickery Dave, I'm always blown away by the speed at which you turn these layouts out ………….:shock::shock::shock::shock:

I seem to remember, with Potter's Lane" way back, you almost had it built before we'd even fixed the show date …..


You might have noticed I started elsewhere with some Gateshead photos but they will have to be re-posted after the recent blip …:twisted::twisted:

I'm looking forward to the "Manchester" photos. thumbs

The past week I have been cracking on with the construction of the signal box……










 

Wow. So what are you using for your base materials?

The usual mix of foamex and clear acrylic sheet covered with paperbrick brick paper.

Great fast model work Dave,
I see you are hanging on to a spot indoor,s.
A bit cold for garage work these days?
Best of luck with the model.
Derek.

More like I still have a pile of junk to move in the corner of the garage … :roll:

Actualy the garage is heated as not only is the CH boiler in there but also I plumbed in a radatior last year when it was the old railway room. After I got rid of the 2 spare cars we had I sealed up the garage door again this time with expanding foam. Next year I will be getting a couple more sheets of the 50mm kingspan insulation that I used in the loft and fit it behind the garage door before boarding over it again. ;-)

As Peter say Dave, your speed never ceases to amaze me. The signal box is coming along nicely… Most people I encourage to carry on…. Maybe I need to encourage you to slow down!!?

Lovely to see you posting again.

Marty

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

………………………………. Most people I encourage to carry on…. Maybe I need to encourage you to slow down!!?

Lovely to see you posting again.

……………………..

And I'd have to agree on your last comment Marty.  thumbsthumbs

Cheers guys. ;-)
Well last night I did a bit more track laying on board 4. Thankfully there are only 4 more short sections of track to lay with the modified sleeper spacing as the rest of the track can be laid straight from the box. At the moment I have all the track in place to the end of the station platforms. Rach mentioned last night about doing a christmas wish list again so she can pick something for me. Last year I gained another class 20 to pair with the secondhand one I bought from a br blue forum member. This year I fancy a blue class 37 although looking at hattons website they have a nice 2EPB emu in rail blue that I could 'get away with' on the layout as I think they were used on the north london line. I may have to lay some third rail however ……. hummm… AC/DC lines ….:roll: 
The signal box has now gained its nameboard in the same style as the one at Bletchley this being produced on the PC and printed onto card. I have taken a few piccys on my phone so I will post a couple later as im currently at work.:sad: :roll: 

As promised a few piccys ….

First the layout when I had all 5 boards set up in the living room



Bus replacement service





Nameboard on signal box



1:8 scale model I made last year in the foreground




Yesterday the layout moved into the garage. During the move the front end of the shed was damaged beyond repair so I rebuilt it from 5mm foamex rather than the 3mm stuff I used previously. The chevrons on the end are done with stick on vinyl with the yellow being the same reflective stuff used on car numberplates! Behind is a very sorry looking potters lane





Close up of the new end wall section. The top part above the doors was overlaid with matchsticks before painging to represent the cladding on the real building. This week I might make a start on making the opening doors from brass sheet. These will opperate via small RC servos mounted under the baseboard.







Think I may need a bigger shed






:thumbs

Great progress Dave,
Hard luck with the damage to your building.
Need a bigger shed?
Shift the living room into the garage and relocate the railway?

Happy Yuletide.

Derek.

:hmm      :doublethumb 

Do we have any members of MERG on here ? The reason I ask is I applied for membership 5 days ago including paying the £16 yearly subscription + £5 joining fee and am still waiting ?? I did recieve an email stating that it can take up to 7 days to process my application. This I could understand if I was paying by cheque but I used paypal. :roll: :???: I was hoping to have this sorted by now so I can start planning the electrical systems on the new layout during the christmas break as at the moment everything is on hold. Last night I soldered up a couple of the baseboard jumpers for the track feeds so I can run my locos up and down the main running lines, this in anticipation of what may be inside the big box that arrived from hattons a couple of weeks ago. :mrgreen: 

At the moment im undecided between DC or DCC. DCC would be the better choice but with the loco fleet now up to about 25 locos the chips are going to cost a bit. What has made me think twice is the chip that I fitted to my heljan 47 decided to go bang so this has put me off chipping any more locos for the time being. Once I have access to the MERG forum I can read up on the intended control systems that im thinking about using and make a final decission for the layout. Just wish they would hurry up …….

Did a spot of balasting last night










Latest 2 additions to the loco fleet
















 

The ballasting looks good, Dave.  :thumbs

I wouldn't worry about MERG.  I applied over a year ago and the arrogant b………..s still haven't replied.

There are only three choices for trouble free DCC systems.  Not in any order . . .  ECoS, Lenz or NCE.

Cheers

Looking good - as usual.
Best wishes for 2014 too.

So, where have you hidden Rachel this time then? That's some chunk of ballasting out of the way.
 
:cheers

Cheers guys. Regarding MERG I have sent them another email just waiting for a response …….. :roll:

Rather pleased with how the balast is drying as normaly it changes colour. Maybe its because I forked out for the woodland scenics stuff rather than the usual cheep rubbish.

Got another 2 bottles of PVA from town this afternoon so looks like another night shift on the 'permant way' :thud

Happy new year everyone. :cheers

Well managed to scratchbuild the two platform signals out of brass and also constructed my first ground signal by the loco shed. I have also made the first of the booster transformer support structures only 3 more to scratchbuild. My MERG membership is now finaly sorted after a frustrating few weeks. After reading through some of the PDFs sent on a disk I have decided to control the layout using the superblock system. This will fully automate the layout without the need for DCC or a computer and the DC locos can run 'from the box' without any mods required. A bonus of this system is we wont have to depend on a computer working under 'show conditions' as you can bet the system would crash just before the doors open to the punters on a sat morning !! :roll: