Widnes Road Etc...

Widnes Road goes to Warley 2011

2011-11-21T20:47:00.001Z

Widnes Road (and Malcolm and I) have returned from a fab weekend away at Warley 2011, with some great memories, a much lighter wallet and some top purchases. A new performer on the layout over the weekend was 40002, which was purchased as the show opened on the Saturday morning, and promptly fitted with a Howes sound decoder and DCC supplies rectangular speaker. It then proceeded to perform faultlessly all weekend.

One of the best aspects, from an operators perspective about this show, is as the photo below testifies to, the ability to drive the hire van right into the hall, which saves about an hour of lugging layout panels about. Very civilised.

The other great aspect was being able to see up close before the show opened some of the best layouts in the UK. My personal favourites, that the photos do not do justice to were 'Diesels in the Duchy' and Mike Anson's 'Western Road'. Two of the finest D&E era layouts on the circuit. The curry and beers with Mike and Andy from Western Road was the icing on the cake of a top weekend away.

Widnes Road on YouTube

2011-11-21T20:41:00.001Z

Widnes Road - YouTube

I have to express my gratitude to Hawkingetippyd who has posted a superbly shot video of Widnes Road on YouTube filmed at the Folkestone show last month. I particularly like the long shot of the 45 approaching the camera at 6:35 which captures the feel of the layout in action better than any photo I have managed to take.

Alsager Railway Exhibition

2011-11-07T19:07:00.002Z

Last weekend Widnes Road had its last outing before the Warley MRC National Railway Exhibition at the NEC in two weeks. A nice medium sized show that was very well attended. My favourite layout was the outstanding Rowlands Castle set just before D-day.

One advantage of the relatively poor light within the Alsager Civic Hall was the opportunity to use the model lighting on Widnes Road to take some dusk shots of the depot area.

A Bavarian Break

2011-10-30T14:10:00.002Z

A half term break to Bavaria and good fortune with getting some late October sunshine produced some good photographic opportunities in and around Nuremberg and Munich this week. My third visit to the area this year and I'll definitely be back next year, with such a variety of traction, and great locations it's rapidly becoming my favourite railway destination.

Photos from the Folkestone Show

2011-10-05T20:02:00.000+01:00

Picture update - Widnes Road

2011-09-18T13:43:00.000+01:00

Quick picture update

2011-09-11T22:11:00.000+01:00

Nearly ready for the Autumn exhibitions

2011-08-29T15:57:00.000+01:00

A few pictures of the extension to Widnes Road which has been taking shape over the summer. The new scenic board with sandstone hills are based on Runcorn Hill, with a slightly geographically repositioned pub, The Prospect also from Runcorn, forming part of a small hamlet on top. The electrified track which passes through the new scene is the line which diverges from the main line at Runcorn station and serves Folly Lane.

The concrete hardstanding to the foreground is a place-holder until I can find a suitable kit for a chlorine plant, the front two tracks will eventually serve the chemical works.

Widnes Road - Update

2011-07-21T21:30:00.000+01:00

As of mid-July, the 2 new boards are built, the track has been constructed of a mix of standard ABS plastic and Timber-tracks track panels with C&L railchairs with code 83 flat-bottom rail.

After the track is laid on Tillig track base to give super-elevation Stage 2 is to airbrush the track with various shades of track dirt and rust, followed by picking out all the railchairs with Railmatch Dark or Light Rust as appropriate. Stage 3 is the usual ballasting operation using Woodland Scenics Fine ballast, sprayed 1st with a dilluted water / washing up liquid mixture then PVA coloured with Burnt Sienna acrylic paint.

Back from a rail trip round Germany and Belgium

2011-07-17T10:43:00.000+01:00

I've posted another few highlights from a week long trip round Germany and Belgium, taking in Munich, Nuremberg, Berlin, Cologne, Brussels and Charleroi, and there is a link to my flickr site with far more for those who are interested here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/widnes_road/

SNCB / NMBS - A couple of days in sunny Belgium

2011-06-17T10:44:00.000+01:00

An impending change of job has given me some time off to relax before beginning at my new company later in the summer. Given this unexpected free time I though a couple of days in sunny Belgium, split between Brussels and Antwerp would be just the ticket to begin with.

I have posted below a few edited highlights, but I will post more at my main flickr page shortly.

1st Garden Railway Running Session

2011-05-29T19:47:00.000+01:00

A beautiful late Spring day, and the opportunity to get out into the garden and get the garden railway up and running. Some light pruning and track cleaning later and 47 484 makes a spirited run on a rake of HBA coal hoppers. This is a Heljan class 47 which has been fitted with an Extreme Etchings headcode box conversion kit and etched nameplates. Next is the soon to arrive fan and grill set from Extreme Etchings and bogie detailing kit from Modern Motive Power.

Timber Tracks - Turnout Construction

2011-04-24T15:39:00.002+01:00

I'm busy building the various turnouts needed for the extension to Widnes Road; and I had a need for a curved left hand 1:6. Having read about the new Timber Tracks sleeper bases available from C&L, I thought I'd give them a try.

Now I have I'm never going back to plastic, the wooden bases are so much better to work with and don't melt if you're too liberal with the Butanone.

As well as being far more pleasing to work with they also enable more natural looking track formations to be made, as well as allowing standard turnouts to be gently curved to fit track plans.

The best description comes from their own website: "Timber Tracks mark a radical new departure in track construction. For years we have been saying that model railway trackwork should ‘flow’ and be designed as a whole, rather than as turnouts ‘stitched’ together by lengths of plain track. Instead of individual sleepers and turnout timbers, the system is based on laser cut turnout bases and track panels. Each panel is flexible, so you can create sweeping curved turnouts and track." And it does exactly what it says on the tin!

Widnes Road - Western Extension

2011-04-18T20:15:00.001+01:00

Having completed fiddle yard V.1.4, I can finally start on the interesting bit, the extension to the western, scenic end of the layout. This will include a chemical works / tanker unloading depot, consisting of two sidings, the second of which will have a loco shunt release via a double slip onto the through line. The images alongside show the first piece of trackwork I have completed, a conjoined pair of B6 r/hand turnouts, constructed as a single track panel over the last few weeks.
The next track panel to be contructed slots onto the furthest right road in this picture (the through line) and will consist of a trailing curved l/hand leading back toward the camera. this will serve as a cripple sideing for a couple of wagons, plus storage for the shunter which will stable this side of the level crossing and serve the chemical works traffic.
The final track panel will consist of a double slip, joining roads 2 and 3 and divering into a single road heading to a hidden fiddle yard, and a headshunt.

Widnes Road - Fiddle Yard Mk.IV

2011-04-18T11:17:00.000+01:00

Work has been continuing apace on Widnes Road now there is a break in the exhibition programme. The first task was the (re-)building of the main fiddle yard, to produce the 4th version. The original was three roads wide and only long enough to stable three locos. This, hopefully the final iteration of the eastern fiddle yard is now able to accommodate fairly long trains, as the images show. Once the second fiddle yard is built, which will be behind the operators, accessed by a hidden curve from the western end of the layout, the operational potential of Widnes Road will improve dramatically.

The high level road seen at the rear of the yard is now wired, and can be used as both a programme track and a test track during exhibitions, when running a loco on the layout only for it to die after three feet can prove embarrassing.

Widnes Road - A short picture update and Exhibition Dates

2011-04-07T10:11:00.013+01:00

Photos courtesy of Tim Reynolds (Cambridge MRC)

Widnes Road - Exhibition Dates - Autumn 2011

10 & 11 September - Worthing MRC Durrington High School, The Boulevard, Worthing, West Sussex

1st & 2nd October - Folkestone MRC Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone

5th & 6th November - Alsager Railway Association, Crewe Alsager - Civic Centre, Stoke

19th & 20th November - Warley National Model Railway Exhibition - NEC, Birmingham

After attending three exhibitions in the early Spring, both Widnes Road and its operators are taking a break from the circuit for a five month period. The next dates are given above, a fairly intense set of two day shows, also getting to parts of the country where we can meet new faces, and also get to see layouts that never make it to the depths of Essex and Kent, our usual 'patch'.

The next five months will be a phase of fairly intense work on the layout, as the final stage on converting Widnes Road from a simple fiddle yard to depot layout as originally built six years ago into a full end-to-end railway capable of running through trains takes place.

This has partly come about from the explosion of excellent 'depot' layouts over the last few years, and partly because after more than 20 exhibitions in its current form, I need to keep things interesting both for me and the layouts operators and audience.

The first stage of the works has already taken place, the existing 5-road traverser has been completely rebuilt, now measuring 5'5" in length, the maximum that will fit across the inside of a Transit van. Once the second fiddle yard is finished, this will allow reasonably long rakes of stock to pass through the scenic section of Widnes Road, adding visual interest between the usual loco moves and shunting of the yard.

As well as being dictated by the width of a Transit, I'm keen to run the occasional through parcels rake, or perhaps a diverted inter-regional passenger as well as the ubiquitous DMU, so the fiddle yard is capable of accommodating a Class 45 Peak and 5 of Bachmann's MkII's or a similar number of GUVs.

The next focus is getting the pointwork built for the third and final scenic board in time for testing in the summer, and being complete with scenery by Warley at the end of November.

New Film Scanner = Nostalgia Time...

2011-04-04T20:59:00.008+01:00

I've just treated myself to a new high-definition film scanner, as I really needed to get round to digitising my pre-2000 railway images. It just makes it easier to search for a particular shot or subject if they are all in one electronic filling system. Its a daunting task though; some 15 years of photography before I purchased my first digital camera in 2000. Considering in the last 10 years I've taken something like 15,000 photos, there are a fair few to scan from the previous years.

Here is a sample of the first two rolls of films I've scanned; from July 1989. the first two are taken at Carlisle on 3rd July, the second pair at Glasgow Queen Street later that week.

The final shot is from a random selection taken early in 1990, just outside Old Oak Common. I have no idea what each film contains until I see the scanner preview. I'm wallowing in nostalgia...

The start of spring = large scale models outdoors

2011-04-01T18:04:00.000+01:00

Spring is in the air, and that means the chance to get outdoors to have fun with the larger scales. The plan for this Spring is to complete an outer loop of G-scale track outside the existing O-Gauge inner loop. I've placed an order for 24 metres of Accucraft flexitrack from the excellent Kent Garden Railways, to suppliment the 8 metres I've been using as a test track.

Hopefully that should arrive in the next week or so and the Class 66 Malcolm and I picked up for a bargain £140 in the Autumn can finally stretch its legs.

Newly arrived today is one of the Bachmann / Aristocraft twin intermodal wagon sets, which makes for an impressive model. Another three or so will make up a very nice rake. The Epping Larger Scale Modellers have also acquired a few second hand wagons to convert into beer wagons. These will be insprired by the ones I saw at a Brno pub last summer. Called Vytopna this friendly pub and restaurant was a rail enthusiasts paradise, but also seemed to attract a surprisingly broad mix of people.

'Trainspo' - Peer Reviewed Railway Photos

2011-03-29T20:35:00.001+01:00

In an effort to fill the void in my life (well bored tea-break shaped void anyway) that has been left by the demise of Fotopic, I've been dabbling in other photo hosting websites, including various groups on Flickr. It was through this that I came across Trainspo.com which seemed to have a far higher standard of photography that simply hundreds of similar shots dumped to an enormous folder online. Their mission statement of sorts is:
"we would like for you to only upload high quality photos. It is better to upload just a few, yet high-quality, photos than a lot of mediocre ones."

Which I think is a laudable aim. to help enforce this, upload slots are restricted to a maximum of 5, and are only renewed if photos are considered by peer review to be of a sufficient interest and quality.

I hope I've managed to upload some interesting shots, and they are located here: http://trainspo.com/Widnes.Road/gallery/ The best part was having to carefully sift through the last ten years or so of photos to pick ones I felt were interesting or of use to modellers rather than dumping 100+ images at a go online.

As for a replacement for fotopic's incredible usefulness when looking for a particular detail shot for railway modelling, it's not perfect. I'm still looking for something as infinitely searchable for such delights as different headcode / disc combos on early 80's Class 40's and other delights...

My favourite shot I've uploaded to trainspo so far is the one below, not because it is particularly well shot, the lighting on the loco front is unfortunately out, but because of the setting and memory of watching kilometre long coal trains snaking through the Australian countryside. Fantastic.

The demise of fotopic... a chance to reflect

2011-03-22T21:03:00.000Z

As has been sporadically picked up on various railway blogs over the last week or two, the photo-sharing website fotopic has ceased to be. Having gone through various death throws over the last year or so it would appear to have finally expired at the start of March.

This is a pain for a number of reasons; not least of which is the sheer efffort required to move everything to another image hosting website, not to mention the loss of the ability to search millions of railway images for a particular detail shot for model railway projects.

However it does mean now that I have started a flickr site, Widnes Road Flickr Site I will be far more selective on what I upload, due to a 300Mb / month limit. This does have the advantage of making me thing rather more carefully about which images I want to put online, and not simply batch load 300 at a time, half of which are just a slightly different angle or zoom. Less is, as they say, more. Todays selection is Hungarian Railways (MAV) V43 class electric V43 1108 taken at Budapest station on 3rd August 2010.

A short trip to Cornwall

2011-03-08T09:34:00.000Z

A quick picture update

2010-11-14T12:22:00.001Z

OMWB - New Bachmann / Rail Exclusive Class 03's

2010-10-30T15:19:00.003+01:00

Happily running in on the excellent DCC Concepts Rolling Road are the latest arrivals for Widnes Road; a pair of the new Bachmann Class 03 Shunters - No. 03371 & 03160. Both models are a limited edition run of 500 commissioned by the erstwhile Rail Express Modeller magazine but now being delivered by the separate company 'Rail Exclusive'.

First impressions are that this is a much needed model to fill a big gap in the BR Blue Era modellers stable. Detail differences are faithfully captured and they will make good weathering projects when I have a little more time and after my modelling room has been rebuilt after the flood from earlier in the year as at present I'm limited to a test track on the dinner table. They need a good run-in before a straightforward conversion to DCC using a 6-pin direct Lenz Silver decoder in each loco.

DB ICE at London St Pancras International

2010-10-19T21:26:00.000+01:00

In what I truly hope is a first taste of great things to come, Deutsche Bahn in a superb piece of publicity tested a pair of their ICE-3 sets through the Channel Tunnel this week, including evacuation tests to demonstrate the potential for additional services from London to Europe culminating in the display of one of the ICE-3 sets, suitably vinyled with Union Jack ICE logos and displaying ICE service No. 9970 to Frankfurt (M) Hbf via Koln and Rotterdam at London's St. Pancras International station today, the 19th October.

Widnes Towers

2010-09-19T19:00:00.000+01:00

I managed to do some more work on the area to the rear of the depot today. Having trawled the internet I found a very useful website for backscene elements at: http://www.cgtextures.com/ from which I downloaded an excellent block of flats.

The Great Flood

2010-09-17T09:00:00.000+01:00

Over the summer I had planned to start work on the final scenic board for Widnes Road, an extension to the left of the level crossing which splits with one road heading to a short, single platform face for DMU traffic and a through road passing under a skewed bridge to a short fiddle yard to enable through trains.

Unfortunately a burst pipe in the ceiling above my modelling room put paid to that idea, and instead the last two months have been spent repairing damage to the house and to a lesser extent, Widnes Road. Luckily the main leak missed all the layouts but there was still a bit of work required. I did manage to complete one piece of new scenery, rather than just replacement; and that was a block of flats to fill in a blank space at the rear. With the addition of some figures and vehicles I'm pleased with the result so far. I just need to add some photoshopped images to the back skypaper to fill in the gaps.

GEWR - Garden Railway Starts Running

2010-07-18T13:41:00.001+01:00

GEWR - Major Civil Engineering Ends!

2010-07-17T13:57:00.001+01:00

The first of these pictures was taken on the 4th April 2008; the last on the 11th July 2010. Between these two dates some 3,200 bricks, 4 tonnes of sand, half a tonne of concrete and 24 bags of cement had been used to build the structure for the GEWR (Great Epping Wall Railway).

I had originally planned only to use walls for the curves, with all the straights simply on decking planks set onto posts; but shortly after the first two curves were built we made the decision to built it on wall in its entirety. Now it is up and running I'm glad we made that decision, as other than treating the top wooden deck that the track is laid on, it requires no treatment or maintenance and should easily last twenty years plus.

Widnes Road - High Quality Images

2010-06-19T11:11:00.000+01:00

A brief update and an excuse

2010-06-08T20:04:00.002+01:00

If anyone actually reads this, you may have wondered why I've not updated lately. The first image goes someway to showing that Widnes Road is back up and running having been stacked away since the exhibition. There are some more images to follow when my friend Jim, who took some high quality images with an SLR has processed them. This was simply one I took with my 'point and click' after I'd set the lighting up.

The second image explains the absence. I got distracted by my birthday present to myself. A brand new Triumph Street Triple motorcycle. A truly fantastic piece of engineering, and provider of some of the most fun it is possible to have. Normal service will now resume; as I have a couple of blocks of low-relief flats to construct...oh, and a pub and row of shops.

Bye for now,

Paul

Some pictures from the Welwyn GC Exhibition

2010-04-24T19:42:00.004+01:00

Living the life of a somewhat subterranean railway modeler its not often that what I build has the benefit of good natural lighting. Last weekends exhibition in Welwyn Garden City was a real opportunity to take some photos, as it was blessed with excellent lighting on a bright spring day. Despite only having a compact digital camera with me I was pleased with the results.

There is a few months until a good run of four exhibitions in close succession in the Autumn. This means I can get cracking on the parade of shops which will form the other side of Widnes Road and complete the western end of the layout. A combination of kit-bashing and detailing is the order of the day. I'm on the lookout for any company that does the basic components for shop interiors in 4mm and a decent kit to base a detailed public house on.

Widnes Road Signal Box - Part III

2010-04-07T19:31:00.000+01:00

The completed signal box complete with interior and lighting has been installed on the layout next to the new level crossing. The through main line is laid ready for the extension of Widnes Road to allow end-to-end operation using two fiddle yards.

Widnes Road Signal Box - Part II

2010-04-06T19:24:00.000+01:00

Having spent some time making a fully detailed interior, some decent internal lighting was required. A strip of three white LED's provided plenty of light and was easily hidden in the roof.

Widnes Road Signal Box

2010-04-03T18:13:00.000+01:00

The new signal box for Widnes Road level crossing is taking shape nicely; the Ratio Midland region box with a fully detailed interior.

Widnes Road - Level Crossing

2010-03-14T17:31:00.002Z

The level crossing at the western end of Widnes Road starts to take shape; the gates are Wills, the pedestrian guards are made from styrene rod filed to triangles. Next task is to complete the signal box to go alongside the crossing which will have a fully detailed interior.

Widnes Road Update 2010

2010-02-21T19:09:00.011Z

Firstly, here is a quick list of the next 5 confirmed exhibition dates for Widnes Road

2010

17th April De Havilland MRC Welwyn Garden City

18th September Mid Essex MRC High School, Oliver Road, Shenfield

2nd/3rd October Ilford & West Essex MRC Romford

9th October The Leventhorpe School Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire

13th November Romford MRC

Secondly, a quick round-up of what I've been working on and what's in store for the 2010 exhibition season.

Having got fed-up with continually fixing the plastic handrails around the roof of the depot, I fabricated new ones from square-section brass rod; when painted up they look a lot finer scale, and have the added benefit of not snapping every time the track is cleaned. This was followed by the fitting of a number of 'express models' depot lamps to the buildings and yard area.

The next changes are a lot more drastic, and are still under construction. The final extension to the layout will see a level crossing installed to Widnes Road at the far left hand side; the front road in the yard being straightened and converted to a through line. This required the painful act of removing a significant section of scenery and track to enable the realigned line to exit across the main road and onto a second fiddle yard.

At present I've laid the new track and I'm now contemplating whether to go for conventional level-crossing gates or working modern barriers. Current thinking is for the older style level crossing gates and the through line is for freight services to the Runcorn Docks and chemical works and would have been unlikely to have justified the expense of fitting automatic gates.

I'm looking forward to the new Bachmann 03, as this will be perfect for short trip-working trains of a few chemical tanks running across the main road.

7mm SPA Progress

2009-12-24T13:25:00.001Z

I've completed the assembly of the first of the 7mm kits I've been working on, and I think the result is quite reasonable given the fairly rough and ready nature of the mouldings.

The lack of believable brake levers led to a rummaging through the 'bits' box; parts were borrowed from the leftovers from previous kits, one side from a Grampus the other from a VGA. It goes to emphasise why you should never through anything away.

All that remains is to give it a coat of Railfreight 'flame red', and apply transfers.

Network Rail - Glasgow Central

2009-12-12T19:30:00.002Z

Stock Weathering

2009-12-05T18:16:00.002Z

I've been spending some spare time working on the new stock I have acquired for Widnes road lately. I try not to run anything 'out the box' for too long; so the new Class 25 has now had buffers replaced, detail parts added, and using 1500 grade wet and dry I have taken the shine off the body work.

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon weathering it and this shows the end result. A combination of Carr's weathering powders and a light airbrushing with three tones going from frame dirt and brake dust to smoke black.

A break from 4mm - some O-gauge wagons

2009-11-23T20:05:00.004Z

As last weekend was the final outing for Widnes Road for 2009, as illustrated by a new shiny Bachmann 150 Sprinter basking in the sunshine above; and with a nearly 5 month break until the next exhibition, there is a chance to get down to some proper model making.

I have always been someone who tends to hoard kits if I can pick them up for a reasonable price, even if I don't have a current project which they would suit. A case in point is the reasonable selection of 7mm modern image wagon kits I have accumulated from e-bay.

The first one onto the work bench is a resin / white metal SPA / ZDA Sea Urchin. The image above is the result of about 6 hours work filling and sanding as most parts had air bubbles or in the case of the metal parts, fairly large gaps in the castings. After a bit of work however, I'm fairly convinced I can get a decent model from a really quite cheap purchase.

The next photo shows the rather less 'economical' purchase which has spurred me on to get back to some 7mm modelling. Having been on the look out for some more HEAs to add to the one I completed in the summer, at the Royston show on Saturday I acquired not one but five, and very tidy they are too. With a half-decent speedlink train coming together I now have the impetus to build a few more wagons, as well as getting some track laid in the garden in the Spring.

Layout and stock tweaks

2009-11-16T14:29:00.010Z

Having spent two days running Widnes Road at Tolworth Showtrain, I used part of a day off to make some minor tweaks to the layout. The most time consuming was lengthening No.3 Road in the yard to enable longer locos to fit with a full rake of dogfish & sharks.

Although it doesn't look as if much has altered it still took the best part of 4 hours work to lay a short length of track, relocate the bufferstop and light, and paint and ballast the track.

A full rake of 9 wagons plus a Class 47 or 45 can now fit in the headshunt.

I purchased one of Bachmann's latest DCC Sound Class 25's from Kent Garden Railways at the show, a pretty decent model straight from the box.

One retrograde step, I think, has been the substitution of the older unsprung metal buffers with sprung plastic ones. these seem quite crude in comparison, particularly when viewed side-on. It 's a simple step to resolve this as the plastic buffers are easily removed with a pair of pliers. The replacements are turned blackened brass Oleos.

Photos from Tolworth Showtrain

2009-11-15T19:44:00.010Z

This weekend Malcolm and I spent a very enjoyable two days at the exhibition of the Hampton Court Model Railway Club. About the right size for a show with a nice balance of trade stands and exhibitors; and a decent mix of UK and continental layouts.

I was particularly impressed by a Swiss layout, Rhatia, last years Showtrain Cup winner, which I spent a fair while watching.

I have uploaded a few snaps taken of Widnes Road in action over the weekend as well as a couple of shots of Rhatia.

Hello to all the people who stopped for a chat, it was good to meet so many genuinely interested modelers. For those who were asking about the frog polarity changing power supply device; its called a 'Hex Frog Juicer', available from the people at Tam Valley Depot, and sold online by Fast Tracks (not Making Tracks as I mistakenly told someone).

Invisible progress

2009-11-01T13:59:00.005Z

After a few gremlins crept into the wiring at the last exhibition I felt it was time to give the layout a re-wire; and at the same time take the opportunity to try out a new gadget from Canada; 'The Hex Frog Juicer'.

Initial trials are more than satisfactory, it does exactly what it claims, "Automatically controls the polarity of DCC power for up to 6 frogs on turnouts or crossings. If a train drives onto a frog and it is the wrong polarity, the circuit will switch to the opposite polarity."

"The Hex Frog Juicer is the ultimate expression of
running your trains and not the track."

Exhibition Dates & Places - Widnes Road

2009-10-04T09:54:00.002+01:00

See Widnes Road at the following Exhibition Appearances:

Farnham & District MRC - 10th-11th October 2009;
Aldershot - Connaught Leisure Centre, Tongham Road, GU12 4AS

Hampton Court MRC - Tolworth Showtrain 2009
Tolworth Recreation Centre - 14th-15th November 2009;

Royston & District MRC - Sat 21st November 2009
Meridian School, Garden Walk, Royston, SG8 7JH

Provisional invites; 2010

Hoddesdon, Herts 10th July 2010

Mid Essex MRC - 18th September 2010
Shenfield High School, Oliver Road, Shenfield

Ilford & West Essex MRC - 80th Anniversary Exhibition
2nd & 3rd October 2010

Romford MRC - Sat 13th November 2010

Confirmed Appearances 2011
Warley National Model Railway Exhibition 2011
19th & 20th November 2011, NEC Birmingham

Widnes Road - Stock Update

2009-09-27T15:49:00.002+01:00

A week before the exhibition season begins and I have made enough progress on Widnes Road that a) It looks fairly finished; and b) I can have a break from the scenery and get back to what I enjoy most; resprayed and detailing rolling stock.

The results of this have been i) the fitting of a Howes of Oxford Sound decoder in one of the Class 33's. I'm very pleased with it, I reckon its a match for my much loved South-West Digital decoder fitted locos. ii) The partial respray of my last 'out the box' loco, 37 057 "Viking" into Eastfield Machine 37 035.

Whilst not finished, I still need to plate over the nose doors and remove the sealed beam headlight and aerials, with the fitting of Heljan ploughs (from a 47) it looks the part. The respray was needed to remove all traces of the nameplate and Tinsley Rose. I will eventually lightly weather it to match 47 597.

Widnes Road - Exhibition Ready

2009-09-20T19:02:00.003+01:00

With two weeks to go to the Sudbury Model Railway Exhibition; I have been adding the finishing touches to the latest section of Widnes Road. This new element, although only adding just over a foot to the scenic section, adds a rear part to the depot scene, as well as allowing more depth to allow a for realistic backscene to be incorporated. The road overbridge has been improved with new supporting pillars which make it look a much more believable structure. A further low-relief depot building has been added to the far right-hand end of the layout, as shown in the close up picture above; I still need to add the far bridge abutment and add much more to the backscene.

Depot Progress (Widnes Road)

2009-08-23T15:00:00.005+01:00

Progress lately has focused on improving the appearance of the main depot building, with the fabrication of a new depot floor with recessed tracks, an inspection pit and full length inspection walkway.

Exhibition Time Again

2009-08-18T20:30:00.006+01:00

Although it seems only weeks ago that the British summertime finally decided it would happen, far sooner than I ever allow for the autumn Model Railway Exhibition season is rolling into view again.

As with every year I get half way through August and realise that the dozen or so jobs I had determined to do when I unloaded Widnes Road from the last exhibition of last years season remain at best half finished. In fact as with last year; after the last exhibition in the spring, I took a large saw to Widnes Road, to enable an extension to be fitted.

To be fair, I've made pretty good progress, the woodwork was finished very early on, as was the trackwork and wiring, but then; as usual I got distracted by another project, this time the continuous run around the railway room.

So to spur me on here is a list of the tasks still to be completed by the first weekend of October:

Rebuild the main depot building from a dead-end to a through 2-road shed (largely complete, just need to make and fit three new roller shutter doors)
Lay new hardstanding with inset trackwork throughout the depot building area;
Construct low-relief depot building to form backscene to new extended depot area
Construct low-relief wagon repair shed for foreground of extended board.
Refit all small depot detailing parts;
Paint and fit new electric sub-station;
Fit OHLE to extended tracks;
Re-fit signal and buffer warning light;
Make new backscene for scenic board extension;
Fully test layout and clean all stock.

55 days to go...

The next two upcoming Exhibitions at which Widnes Road is appearing are:

Sudbury MRC - 3rd October 2009
St. Peters, Market Hill, Sudbury

Farnham & District MRC - 10th-11th October 2009;
Aldershot - Connaught Leisure Centre, Tongham Road, GU12 4AS:

Singen Hbf - Signal Box

2009-08-08T15:52:00.006+01:00

With the added incentive of new rolling stock to photograph, I managed to get around to painting the signal box for Singen Hbf; as well as finishing off the main station building with the latest DBAG and S-Bahn signage. I'm pretty pleased with the results. The new rolling stock is a Fleischmann OBB Hercules; and a Trix SBB Mak Diesel. Next to be built is the town square, complete with fountain; then finish off the fuelling point.

Here are some photos of the finished signal box:

And some more photos of the new locos, and the updated main station building:

Singen Hbf - New Arrival

2009-08-05T12:07:00.016+01:00

While in Berlin this week I picked up one of the latest Fleischmann driving trailers; so here are a couple of photos showing it being tested on my Singen Hbf layout. It's a huge improvement in detail levels from the old design which is starting to get a bit long in the tooth. It's inbuilt lighting is also DCC friendly, but at 95 Euro is certainly isn't cheap.

Below; I have included photos both taken last week at Koln of the two different prototypes on which the two Fleischmann models are based for reference. In my opinion probably one of the best pieces of contemporary rolling stock available in N-gauge.

European travels and fresh inspiration

2009-08-05T09:18:00.002+01:00

I've just got back from two weeks of traveling around Europe, reaching Prague via Belgium and Germany; lots of updates to come over the next week or two.

The light at the end of the tunnel

2009-05-04T18:00:00.004+01:00

A major milestone was reached today on the new layout; the structural woodworking has been completed. Now the trackplan can be laid out using the Tillig HO track templates and any minor adjustments made to allow for point motor locations etc.

'Muizen' Progress - The first tracklaying

2009-04-28T18:29:00.010+01:00

Another weekend of successful woodworking and I've been able to get the first track down, at least in 'first draft'. It's to give me an idea of whether I can keep to my plan of a minimum radii of 30-36" even on the off-scene parts; and initial tests are hopeful. Although it's not too clear in the picture all track will be laid with prototypical super-elevation or 'cant'.

I've already rebuilt the 'removable' section by the door to ease the track radii from 28" to a generous 36", and to ensure that where the track joins the main baseboard from the 'bridge' it does so perpendicularly to allow for a reliable rail joint.

The second photo shows the main off-scene area; this allows a continuous run to be achieved and also accommodates a 4-road fiddle yard for up to 6/7 coach trains plus locos, this will be laid as far as the wall in the distance. The four tracks to the right of the picture are placed to gauge the depth needed for a useable storage yard; this quarter of the layout will not be modelled.

All track is the HO-Elite system from Tillig, obtained from international models in Wales, who provide an excellent range and great, friendly service. I consider the Tillig track a good compromise for a layout that doesn't leave home. Whilst my exhibition layout Widnes Road has only hand-build turnouts, for something of the size I'm planning for Muizen I felt it really was a bit of a tall order, plus would have slowed progress by 6-12 months. The Tillig track once ballasted and weathered, and fitted with slow action Tortoise or Fulgerex point motors can look nearly as good and has all the excellent slow-running characteristics of live-frog continuous point blade turnouts.

The final shot shows the layout in context in the main basement railway room (Widnes Road has it's own room!) It really is starting to dwarf Singen Hbf, but the design allows for either layout to be operated independantly, and the central layout is easily moveable if extra room is needed at one side of the room for modelling. Next task is to get the windows in the room replaced and then the main baseboards along the longest wall can be built, and a continuous run laid.

Further real-life inspiration: Muizen (Part 1)

2009-04-16T20:50:00.007+01:00

I recently spent some time in Belgium researching for my latest HO-scale layout; the permanent one which will take up the larger of the two basement railway rooms I am lucky to be blessed with. Whilst traveling from Antwerp to Leuven I passed through a small station Muizen with a very interesting and extremely active yard; and had to go back and take some pictures. A couple are reproduced here; I will upload some more soon.

The yard which included both hopper and container unloading facilities, was packed with pairs of Series 13 electrics; 77xx diesels and a Class 66; the station itself was a nicely compact twin island platform, with a neat row of houses which formed a ready made backscene.

Obviously the yard would have to be massively reduced in scale, but by judicious use of say, the road overbridge seen in the background (moved slightly east), only the yard throat need be modelled; the station though, could be fairly easily reproduced, at least in width, even if it may need to be slightly shortened to around 6 coaches in length.

I will start on a track plan soon.

Easter Woodworking

2009-04-16T07:40:00.009+01:00

The Easter break gave me a few clear days to make progress on my new permanent layout. The main structural frame is taking shape with three sides of the room now having the principal wooden sub-structure in place.

The top deck is only on temporarily until the track plan is finalised at which point the track bed will be cut out allowing the rest of the scenery to be built using the open frame structural system.

The track in the foreground of the top picture is heading across the 'bridge' section which links up the complete loop and can be lifted off to allow large items (like the boards of Singen Hbf seen in the background) to be removed from the room. It is mounted on a series of pattern makers dowels which are set into the ledge on either side baseboard. I have yet to devise the system which will allow the OHLE system to cross the bridge. I'm working on it...

In the rear of the 1st photo you can just make out the structural steel work which has been fitted into the wall to allow the double-track mainline to pass through a retaining block-work wall. This was quite a daunting task but the track plan would have never worked out without it. The steel was supplied by metalsdirectuk and was supplied ready cut and finished, a top drawer service.

A weekend of woodwork.

2009-03-15T19:02:00.010Z

Inspired by the layout that Nigel Burkin has under construction at: http://nigelburkin.wordpress.com/ I've made a start on the baseboards for my latest layout. Unlike my last two, this one is a 'layout that doesn't leave home'; mainly as it will have extensive OHLE, and frankly to model overhead line equipment convincingly it isn't too compatible with portability IMHO. I've started with the easiest section; the narrow return along the door-side of the room; a run of around 11 feet; with a minimum board width of 15 inches; widening at both ends for the corners. I am planning to use a minimum radii of around 3', but hopefully well disguised by either scenery or completely 'off'scene'.

Excuse the Roco NS 1800; it's simply to give sense of scale. I've gone for a completely wall-mounted construction for the narrow 15" wide 'returns', but the main section; at some 13' x 2'6" will need at least some additonal support.

New HO Project: Hasselt / Kiewit (SNCB); or 'here we go again...'

2009-03-15T16:11:00.007Z

Anyone who knows me is well aware of the fact that I can never have just one or for that matter two major railway projects on the go at once; in fact I'm never happier than when I'm planning the layout after the one I haven't built yet.

So to that end; I introduce my latest overambitious project; a permanant layout inspired by the Hasselt / Kiewit area of Belgium. This town is home to the Pukkelpop alternative music festival: http://www.pukkelpop.be which I am very fond of and have been to the last few years.

In between bands and on the day either side of the festival I've been known to spend rather too much time in and around the railway; on the weekend of the festival many trains are strengthened and additional loco-hauled services run to both the main station; Hasselt, and the local station next to the campsite, Kiewit, making a highly modelable subject.

Add to the fact the Kiewit station is on a branch line, is a compact site, sees regular freight trains and is at roughly 90 degrees to the main line, some interesting scenic breaks afforded by river crossings, and the fact that the main station has a busy yard and its own locomotive depot and there is some excellent inspiration.

The main station would take a great deal of modelers license to compress; the real thing having 9 platform faces, which can accomodate up to 12 coach trains; the layout I have in mind will accommodate reduced length rakes of between 6 and 8 coaches, but hopefully I may be able to capture some of the essence of the station. It should be possible to model Kiewit fully, as seen below the station building is fairly compact, though it may be necessary to curve the platforms.

Exhibition Dates - Widnes Road [Updated 27/02/09]

2009-02-27T19:00:00.000Z

See Widnes Road at the following 2009 Confirmed Exhibition Appearances:

Sudbury MRC - 3rd October 2009
St. Peters, Market Hill, Sudbury

Farnham & District MRC - 10th-11th October 2009;
Aldershot - Connaught Leisure Centre, Tongham Road, GU12 4AS

Provisional invites; 2009

Hampton Court MRC - Tolworth Showtrain 2009
Tolworth Recreation Centre - 14th-15th November 2009;

Royston & District MRC - 21st November 2009

Provisional invites; 2010

Romford MRC - 13th November 2010

Confirmed Appearances 2011
Warley National Model Railway Exhibition 2011 19th & 20th November 2011, NEC Birmingham

Previous Outings:

2006
- Epping Railway Circle: Theydon Bois - November 06;

2007 -
- Enfield Town 07
- Erith MRC, Bexley September 07

2008
- Perth, Scotland, June 2008
- Erith MRC, Bexley, September 2008
- Epping Railway Show, Theydon Bois Village Hall, Essex, Saturday 15th November 2008
- Letchworth, Herts. Model Railway Exhibition, Saturday 29th November 2008

2009
-Erith MRC, Dartford, Kent - 24th-25th January 2009

Visit Widnes Road at Fotopic: http://www.widnesroad.fotopic.net

SNCB Class 13

2009-02-22T17:27:00.002Z

Another continental interloper has a test-run on Widnes Road; this time its the latest SNCB Class 13 from LS Models.

A burst of activity...

2009-02-21T16:54:00.005Z

A couple of days of work has resulted in some good progress on the extension to Widnes Road; the new longer fiddle yard is finished, and the best bit of any new layout building is the opportunity to try out favorite rakes of rolling stock...
IMHO you just can't beat a line up of classic 80's traction in BR Blue.

I've also been adding more details to the depot area, including walkways and the inspection pit within the shed itself. This overall shot shows how the extension relates to the original board.

Widnes Road - Mark 2.5

2009-02-19T20:24:00.006Z

I just can't help myself; whilst I had Widnes Road apart to build a new and improved fiddle yard, which is built and just awaiting the track laying I decided I could model the 'back' of the depot building as well as the front.

A trip to B&Q and a few hours (well two days really) and Widnes Road had grown again, by a whole extra 10 inches (plus the extra 8" on the fiddle yard). This has the added benefit that the two sidings on this board have also been lengthened.

While I had the buildings off and was making a mess anyway, I took the opportunity to get the 'jigsaw' our and cut a long hole in the baseboard to fit an inspection pit, which is the beginnings of modelling the inside of the depot building which will eventually be lit. The plan is to scratch build some small depot buildings to fill the space between the depot and the relocated bridge, and a low relief shed to form a scenic break.

Widnes Road - Fiddle Yard Progress

2009-02-08T19:17:00.003Z

The new traverser 'runners' arrived from Station Road Baseboards, and once cut to length were fitted. This then allowed for the fun bit; getting out various rakes of favourite wagons and seeing what will fit in the new fiddle yard.

It was also a good excuse to buy a few more of the excellent Heljan dogfish; although they stand out a mile not having had the attention of the airbrush yet. It's a shame that they now only come with a horrible black plastic load; which is rather too well glued in. A spot of attention with the scalpel blade and a very speedily delivered order from Ten Commandments soon sorted that out.

Let it snow...

2009-02-02T18:22:00.004Z

The last two days have seen some of the heaviest snowfall in the South-east of England for nearly twenty years. The photos alongside show the Central Line taken from the bridge at the end of my road...no work today.

Widnes Road - Fiddle Yard III - Fiddle Harder

2009-02-01T17:36:00.005Z

It was pay-day on Friday, so Saturday morning brought a trip to B&Q (other DIY megastores are available) to buy supplies for the jobs to be done on Widnes Road.
First off is the new fiddle yard; I've struggled with the various iterations of traverser that Widnes Road has had. The first was too small and kept sticking; this was solved on the second version by making it a) longer; and b) putting the traverser on furniture drawer runners. However, the layout grew, and the wood which formed the traverser base warped. I tried to reinforce the base with ply strips along the edges, but this was a bit futile. Wandering round B&Q on Saturday I hit upon a solution; extruded aluminium L-channel.
As can be seen in the photo above this has been cut to form a pocket for the traverser bed to sit in; and once drilled and screwed to the 'bed' it forms a very rigid and flat base for the fiddle yard. I'm just waiting for the new runners from Station Road Baseboards and then I can get the track laid.

I've taken the opportunity whilst rebuilding the fiddle yard of lengthening it to 4', long enough for a loco and a reasonable rake of wagons; such as a Cl.47 and 6 LWB vans, or a Cl.25 or 33 and 8 ballast hoppers and a 'Shark'.

Widnes Road - Plans for 2009

2009-01-29T20:25:00.003Z

Having exhibited Widnes Road in its current form for the last 6 months ideas for a few minor tweaks have gradually gelled in my head to improve operation and gain longer train formations.

As it was originally planned as simply a loco-based layout there were no real thoughts regarding train lengths for head-shunts etc. As the layout has grown, operating short formation freights of up to 6 or seven wagons have taken more of a role.

I have already gone through two incarnations of fiddle yard; the first a mere 2 feet long; the current a little larger at 39 inches; however the longest trains which will fit in the sidings are 36 inches without a loco, which brings the overall train length closer to 48" with a long loco such as a cl.40 or cl.45.

Other tweaks include slightly repositioning buffer stops and Kadee uncoupling ramps to better suit train lengths; and move the fuelling point slightly east to allow 2 sets of 3 fuel tanks beyond the FP.

This brings me to a list of tasks for 2009 to be undertaken between now and the Autumn exhibition season; if I set them down in type I may actually get around to doing them:

1) Move Fuel point 2" east; move buffer stop 3" west on No. 3 road, allowing three fuel tanks in unloading siding;

2) Move bufferstop on No.1 (front) road 5" west, and reposition depot building to front of siding, extend headshunt 5" to a total of 40" (this allows cl. 08 and 6x VDA's to fit.

3) Build Mk.3 Fiddle yard @ 4' (48") long, to accommodate:
Cl.37/47 + 6 x VDA's or 5 x VGA's

4) Build inspection pit, with lighting in Main Depot building; No.1 & No. 2 Roads.

Hopefully this list should take no more than a few months allowing time to complete a few AC electrics in time for the next show in the Summer / Autumn.

On the subject of wheely-bins...

2009-01-25T07:40:00.005Z

...or a cautionary tale about paying more attention when cannibalizing one layout to speed up progress on another.

I've been spending an enjoyable weekend exhibiting Widnes Road at a two-day show in Dartford, Kent. There were the usual mix of interested punters stopping for a chat, but there was one yesterday a bit out the norm. She was stood examining the layout for a fair while, and we got in conversation about the various cats; all eight of which are painted to match the four we have in real life and the four which our neighbours have had at various times.

This was all very nice and she was just leaving when the parting comments was along the lines of; "I like the cats but they didn't have wheeley-bins in the 1980's". Now I don't take my modelling so seriously that this causes anything other than surprise that someone is looking that closely, but what was odd was that to be honest I don't even remember putting them on the layout!

Then I remembered cannibalizing a small part of West Wirral (which was set in the late 1990's) to fill in a gap on Widnes Road when I was in a rush; and that small tableau of a depot office had a wheely bin outside the office door.

Suffice to say; the offending bins are coming off today to be replaced by proper 1980's dented dust-bins. Thanks for the heads-up; also a friendly hello to Peter Clark of http://www.peterclarkkits.com/ a guy whose work I admire and whose kits are first rate; for spotting that when I had taken the bogie sideframes off my Heljan 47 to clean the wheels; I'd put them on the wrong way round, well spotted. I hope to build one of your 7mm MPV's for my garden layout later this year.

Right; off to the modelling room to paint some dustbins...

In works - Class 85 Update

2009-01-11T18:04:00.002Z

A day of ups and downs; I managed to 'blow-up' an expensive sound-chip whilst cleaning the wheels on a loco; but managed to calm down by making solid progress on the Class 85 I'm building. C'est la vie.

DSB comes to Widnes Road

2009-01-10T13:03:00.007Z

This morning the post brought a large box of Hobbytrade and Heljan goodies from Denmark; so for one day only Widnes Road has been taken over by the Danish State Railway; DSB.

During a couple of holidays to Denmark I have developed quite an affection for the DSB ME class diesels, built by Henschel in 1981.

For comparison with the model, below is a photo of the real thing taken on the approach to Kobenhavn on a recent visit.

Weathering Inspiration

2009-01-09T21:01:00.006Z

Prototype for everything...

Whenever I'm weathering a wagon I often think I've overdone it; but this picture shows just how weathered the real thing can get; an internal user TTA at Norwich Crown Point depot on 8/4/04.

Also of interest is the depot building in the rear of the picture which is the one which I based the colour of the shed on my Widnes Road layout on.

In works... Class 85

2009-01-06T20:22:00.012Z

Having caught up with the maintenance backlog with Widnes Road, and before I get drawn into too many other daft projects (for daft projects see: starting yet another model railway layout...) I felt I ought to get around to building the DC Kits class 85 I picked up at the Perth show back in July.

This was inspired by this photo; taken by yours truly back on the 24th February 1990 in Wolverhampton and which I recently scanned for my fotopic site (see http://www.widnesroad.fotopic.net/).

Unfortunately when I opened the box it seems that the resin body had been damaged at some point in the last eight months, the buffer beam and one buffer was broken off and in three pieces. So what was planned as a leisurely evening modelling; i.e. filing a few random bits and maybe building the chassis turned into the more involved task of reconstructing the buffer beam, reinforcing it and filling the cracks with 'Rocket Powder' and cyano (a fabulous modelling product I couldn't live without, see: http://www.anticsonline.co.uk/923_1_1220504.html)and replacing the damaged buffers with far nicer turned brass ones I 'happened' to have lying around.

Task completed, I turned to the roof area and hit a major snag. The almost complete absence of decent photos of the roof area of a late 1980's class 85. The kit instructions didn't include any pictures and the diagram to my mind seemed to contradict the text and the few poor quality images I had managed to find. After trawling through my own photos, fotopic, and my usual reference books (including the usually reliable 'Main Line Electrics') I've hit a bit of a modellers block. Shall I make a few 'assumptions' based on best guess, or put the model on hold until I get a definitive answer. Watch this space.

If anyone actually reads this nonsense, and happens to have an answer / pictures as to where the various insulators and switchgear on the roof goes, drop me a line. Ta.

New Year's Resolution No.1 - 'Make the most of the mid-week'

2009-01-05T19:47:00.003Z

One of my New Year's resolutions is to try to do at least some modelling in the evenings after work (one of the others is to go running before work, but methinks the day will not stretch in both directions at once). So when I got home tonight I decided to weather the brake van I 'spruced up' last week. I'm quite pleased with the results, none of the shiny look it had before I started; a bit of 600 grade wet&dry, Carr's weathering powders and a light dusting with the airbrush; 'smoke' and 'brake dust'.

OMWB January - Seacows

2009-01-04T14:27:00.007Z

Having tackled most of the easier wagons, I finally turned to my rake of Seacow's; a mixture of Bachmann, Hornby and Lima offerings, albeit either fully resprayed or detailed, heavily weathered and fitted with loads. There has been plenty said about Hornby's 'own goal' of not including an NEM pocket on their Seacows, but that wouldn't normally be a problem, many older wagons are a doddle to convert with a No.5. The issue with the Hornby wagons is simply there isn't enough room to fit anything which swings sufficiently to get round any significant corners.

The solution was to create two 'barrier' wagons; Lima Seacows with Kadee's on one end only and run the Hornby wagons between them. It's relatively easy to transform the old Lima Sealion / Seacow into something which easily stands its own in a rake with the latest Bachmann and Hornby offerings, particularly as Bachmann's Y25 bogies are easily and cheaply obtainable; the brass canopies over the wagon ends are from A1.

UMWB (Under my Widnes Board...)

2008-12-30T18:27:00.004Z

Having a bit more spare time to indulge in railway modelling over the Christmas break has given me the opportunity to get round to one of those tasks that is often dreaded by in the long run very worthwhile; a rationalisation and comprehensive rewiring of the original layout boards from Widnes Road.

After a few years on the exhibition circuit, and with various ad-hoc additions and alterations the wiring had started to get slightly temperamental; culminating in an annoying (albeit brief) point failure at a show recently.

As can be seen in the photo below, I thought this through and didn't fancy a couple of days under the layout dripping hot solder on myself. Hence I knocked together a stand from a couple of old shelf brackets which holds the layout at a convenient angle for accessing the underside.

I also made a few wiring alterations; including making all sidings live at all times, to enable stabled DCC locos to show lights / make engine sounds etc. something I had been meaning to do almost from the first outing. I'm pleased with the outcome, but I'm now being driven by perfectionism to rewire the second board, which I only built last spring; that way madness lies...

OMWB (On my work-bench) December 08

2008-12-29T16:21:00.010Z

I have been taking the opportunity of a break in the exhibition schedule to do some small improve-
ments to the regular rolling stock from Widnes Road. This has included finally getting around to replacing the last of the old hook-style couplings with Kadee's. The wagons that were left to do were all in the 'too-difficult' box from last time and required varying levels of surgery from the Dremel.

Whilst I had the various wagons on the workbench I added other details such as air and vacuum pipes, lamps and replacing broken buffers. This particular brake-van received the full works.
All that remains to be done is a light to medium weathering.
Amongst the trickier items to fit kadee's to were some of the kit-built ones such as this Nuclear Flask wagon; eventually an adapted No. 20 did the job.

Singen Hbf Update

2008-12-21T14:42:00.005Z

Most of the work on Singen Hbf lately has been the kind you can't really see; wiring, relaying and expanding the fiddle yard, however I felt this picture of a variety of DBAG electrics grouped around the turntable came out fairly well. I've spent most of the day fixing a sound-fitted pair of 218's which was down to corroded contacts and a loose wire; and fitting a DCC decoder in an old Roco 143; which was surprisingly easy if you don't mind the lights not working. Frankly the only space for the chip is in the cab which precludes refitting the lighting parts on at least one end.

Cheap and easy z-gauge wagons

2008-12-20T09:18:00.010Z

Given the often fairly high price for modern Marklin Z rolling stock, and the need to get a few rakes of relatively inexpensive rakes of wagons together I though I would try my hand at refinishing some of the early container wagons that can be picked up for a couple of pounds from eBay. The wagon on the far right is an example of an unboxed early container many of which are listed on both the UK and German eBay site at less than £5.

There is a comprehensive range of ISO container transfers available in 2mm, many of which are suitable for z; as demonstrated by the two wagons at the left of the above photo.In fact you would be very hard pushed to tell that they weren't actual 1:220 decals as they fit the containers sides and ends perfectly.

The enlarged picture shows that for the next attempt I will have to trim closely around the carrier film as the textured sides show this up; however for a wagon that cost around £4, plus £5 for enough decals to do about 6 wagons I think a rake of these will not look at all bad.

The transfers are available from http://www.c-rail-intermodal.co.uk/ and represent excellent value for money.

New Z-gauge arrival

2008-12-18T18:57:00.001Z

The postman brought a delivery of z-gauge turnouts this morning. While I've been keen to build a layout in z-gauge for a few years (I'm really fond of the latest Marklin mini-club stock) the appalling visual appearance of z-gauge track has always put me off.

Whilst intrigued by the components available from 'Fast Tracks' http://handlaidtrack.com/
hand building z-gauge turnouts as a first step into Z did seem to tempt fate a little. When idly flicking through the inter-web I came across references to Peter Wright; http://www.wrightturnouts.com/

A quick e-mail later, and four turnouts were ordered. Quite surprisingly these only took about week to arrive, and I have to confess I'm really rather impressed, and the price is also pretty decent as well; around £80 for four, delivered.

So; this Christmas will see me planning a small German / Swiss layout in one of the last spare spaces in the railway room; the 5 foot by 18 inch shelf above my modelling desk, which was going to have a small HO fuelling point / depot layout built on it. Hey ho, I'll just have to find somewhere else to build that.

Meanwhile I've been making some changes to Singen Hbf, my German N-gauge exhibition layout; adding a branch fiddle yard feeding platform 7; this can be seen as the two tracks nearest to the control panel, which disappear through the small hole in the backscene.

I've also taken the opportunity to change the track layout in the main fiddle yard to give an extra full length siding, hence the missing turnout in the foreground. Plenty to be getting along with over Christmas then.

New Blog for Widnes Road, Singen Hbf, and Z-gauge experiments etc.

2008-12-17T15:37:00.001Z

As I've become frustrated with the restrictions on text on fotopic (well it was never intended to be a blog site) I've decided to set up a separate blog for Widnes Road and Singen Hbf, my two main model railway layouts. So here it is. I will be updating regularly with progress photos on both projects, as well as my newest project, a Z-gauge bookshelf layout; feel free to get in touch.