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  • SouthernRegionSteam

    Coastguard Creek - 15 months of planning!

    By SouthernRegionSteam

    Hold on to your socks - this is going to be a lengthy one! (In fact it's so long, I've now split it into 2 separate posts - the next will be up soon...)   I think it's fair to say that you are all long overdue an update on Coastguard Creek. Due to other commitments, no real progress has been made since the last post way back in March 2021; almost 15 months ago! If anything, things went backwards for quite a while, as I kept finding more and more inspiring locations that I really wanted
    • 8 comments
    • 3,297 views
Redgate's Modelling

"As Built"

I've had a few requests to see the 2-8-2 in unlined "as built" black, so in homage to Hornby's latest Britannia offering here's 91000 before lining out and naming       Keen eyes will observe the digitally removed cylinder lining and the fact that the return crank is not actually soldered to the crankpin
RedgateModels

RedgateModels

6
TomE's N Gauge Modelling

Ropley - Trackwork progress

Morning all   Just a small update but perhaps significantly my first attempt at pointwork using easitrac components but to N scale clearances. This is the point giving access to the main yard area:     A little way to go yet but now waiting for the next shipment of chairs to complete the job. This was something of a learning curve for me but so far it has been no-where near as difficult as I'd feared! Of course the proof will be when it all works but thats for another update   Che
TomE

TomE

5
Kelly's Workbench & Ramblings Blog

Plan - WIP

Had a play with AnyRail just now to put together a rather rough idea of the trackplan.   Its pretty simple. The idea that it'll be in two phases.   Phase One:   Exchange sidings + Exeter mainline   Phase Two:   Chilmark Depot   Still rather rough and might well change depending upon input from Natalie who I'm liaising with on this.   The nice thing about the area/plan is that it allows for similar stock to be used on this layout and the one Natalie and me are planning together (Hil
Kelly

Kelly

3
Adventures in N-gauge

A wagon. An actual wagon.

In my first post on this blog I wrote: "I'm just a very slow worker... I'm kind of hoping that writing this might encourage me to get on a bit more". Well, just over a year to construct one wagon wasn't precisely what I had in mind but the IHA is, nevertheless, as finished as it's going to be for the foreseeable future.   It isn't truly finished. I still need to add the eight hooks that hold the hood closed: I'll be getting these etched in due course. I need enough for four wagons so I'll need
Jim Martin

Jim Martin

8
Scanman's Upton Dene Blog

A Very British 'Bulldog'

No - not a jingoistic outpouring, but a model being built in tribute to a very nice man - a true 'Brit' and an ex-master mariner to boot. Not only is Jim my father-in-law - he's also my uncle. Before anyone gets a banjo out, Zoe my wife had the good fortune (her words) to be adopted by my aunt & uncle. The reason for building this kit (a Martin Finney 'Bulldg') is explained in the last section (to date) on the MSWJR 4-4-0 build.   So now an appeal - if anyone has any photo's or reference
scanman

scanman

3
Scanman's Upton Dene Blog

MSWJR 4-4-0 - Normal Service Will Be Resumed As Soon As Possible...

(an explanation of the tite follows shortly)   Progress today has centred on completing the axle bearings and starting the brake rodding.   The axle bearings went together easily enough once the jig had been sorted out. The hornblock guides being held in place by hair-clips whilst being tack-soldered'. I quite forgot another tip picked up from these forums - using a redundant 'Biro' spring to hold them in place.. Next time!   Next it was on to the brake-rodding - with some assembly tak
scanman

scanman

0
Kelly's Workbench & Ramblings Blog

Some interesting research items...

Whilst searching for more info on RAF Chilmark for a layout plan I'm thinking about I came across the following:   RAF Chilmark visit by 28dayslater site     Another visit report     The photos show some interesting aspects of the Narrow Gauge railway in the facility.   Not sure I'll model the NG stuff, but interesting non-theless.   Kelly
Kelly

Kelly

2
Embankment Road - The Rolling Stock

Pimp my ride...

Work progresses with detailing the HST stock. With the progress on the boards and track, I needed a break and have kept work on the stock moving forwards. The first power car is just about done and ready for storing until the rest of the stock is ready for painting blue. It'll all get painted in one go for consistency's sake. The van door is 10 thou plasticard, a similar one has been made for the cab. The exhaust work mentioned previously here is complete, complete with struts inside the out
Steadfast

Steadfast

5
Ullypug's tales from the tinking table

Wheal Elizabeth Lighting Rig

Have taken the plunge and built the lighting rig extension for Wheal Elizabeth. The purpose of this is to bring all the supports forward allowing the front line to be used for a through passenger traffic in the future. I've only had to bring this forward about 100mm and the effect is a rather nice 'chunky' proscenium arch. Still needs a topcoat of blue gloss in time for its next outing at Trainwest, Melksham next weekend and after this, the next step will be to crack on with the necessary bridge
ullypug

ullypug

0
Copley Hill Works

"Hornby Clerestory Conversions - Part 6"

The Clerestory project continues apace, with the painting and finishing of one more coach, and a third into the carmine livery. I still have the roof to do on the third one, whilst the second has had its roof (with seven, not eight vents!) fitted, and I am awaiting the necessary transfers to finish the first two off before weathering.     A little change I made to the second coach (but not the third), was the implementation of a light coloured undercoat - in this case, a standard Games
S.A.C Martin

S.A.C Martin

2
Avonwick South Devon in 2mm (Kris' Blog)

Further on the fiddle.

Right, after several sessions of wiring and a session of fettling the new fiddle yard for Avonwick is nearly finished.       As can be seen I have ended up with 4 through sidings and a pair of sidings, one for each direction. Doing this has tightened up the minimum radius that I was using so I will have to do some tweaking of the couplings to ensure that all the stock runs happily. The wiring is currently a real mess and will need sorting out at some point in the future (after the RM mee
Kris

Kris

11
backofanenvelope's blog

2FS: One Sunday morning

Ok to prove to myself that I am not just hot air I started to build my first 2mmFS point today. I deliberately have not followed all the things I have seen on the t'internet as I didn't want to to be too precious and just get on an do it, learning from my mistakes and then moving on to better modelling. This is a picture of my temporary and some what mobile work bench with the first rail down. Unfortunately I have to go out now so maybe more will happen later although some liquid refreshment may
backofanenvelope

backofanenvelope

7
Kelly's Workbench & Ramblings Blog

Possible Layout idea decided

Having discussed a little with Natalie possible locations to model, I think a WW2 or 1960s transitional era Chilmark based layout might well meet my needs.   Will need to do more research when time permits, but from looking at the plan Natalie showed me seems to be small enough and with enough interest for me to be interested in doing it.   Kelly
Kelly

Kelly

2
Blacklade Artamon Square

A Statement of Intent

Having chickened out on fitting 4 small etched brass stips as hinges to every door of the Van B, I've decided to tackle finishing the point motors and associated wiring under the layout. This posting is largely to draw the attention of non-DCC users to the query I've just posted on wiring one of the motors here : Hoffmann query, since the solution I've come up with - hardwiring and switching through the spare contacts on another point motor - isn't really a DCC method at all   However this fit
Ravenser

Ravenser

0
Fen End Pit's Blog

More building that blogging

I've been a bit busy fiddling with dodgy electronics recently but haven't produced anything worth adding to the blog (yet). However I have also found time to build another Dave Bradwell brake van chassis so thought folks might like to see a picture. On the left is the completed one from last year, on the right the one I've just finished. I decided to do a slightly different version of van, this time with the shortened foot boards. These kits really are enjoyable to put together, a bit fiddly in
Fen End Pit

Fen End Pit

0
ogie's Blog

New motor in an old Lima 4F ?

I recently purchased two Lima 4F loco's. One runs perfectly at low speeds, whilst the other one is a bit erratic. I would like to upgrade /change the motors to enable them to operate on a DCC layout. Could anyone please advise me as to what motor I should go for or any companies that would do the work for me. Many thanks
ogie

ogie

2
Etched Pixels Workbench

Hand building T (aka NN15) trackwork

For the bridge and valley at the left hand end of the new layout I've been pondering what to use for the narrow gauge line I fancied running over it. Z is a possibility and the little known remainder of the 3' Cornish mineral railways but another obvious option is to lay something in NN15 (or NN18 to be exact). Unfortunately the out of the box T scale track isn't really suitable for narrow gauge so it was time to try the obvious plan B   NN15 track - the soldered way. This is with code 40 flat
Etched Pixels

Etched Pixels

3
Bath Spa in N (was Burwood)

Track Plan

My intention for this layout was to be able to have a good mix of operation and mainline running of decent length trains (more than 5 coaches). I'm not too concerned about continuous running - which is why the layout only has 1 loop that could be used for this.   It is important for me to be able to build the layout one board at a time - so that the project can be done in bite sized chunks. the whole layout is very ambitions for a first layout (with over 50m of track) - and I'm keen to avoid
Rabs

Rabs

0
Bath Spa in N (was Burwood)

Baseboard folding mechanism

The layout will eventually live in the sitting room, so it has to be discrete. For this reason I've designed it to fold away into a sideboard sized unit. There's still a significant amount of design work to specify the lifting mechanisms, but I'll wait until I have a feel for how heavy the boards are going to be before doing this. The importance of doing the space model shown in the pictures below was to assess what baseboard size and shape I could fit in the room. This then played chicken a
Rabs

Rabs

0
Engine Wood

82044 - new chassis progress

It's been a busy week and today I've had the first chance since last weekend to do a bit more on the new chassis for 82044.   To re-cap, it's a Bachmann body, but the chassis just wouldn't run smoothly until I dismantled all the valve gear. Having seen how essentially loose and apparently wobbly the valve gear was, I decided to build a replacement chassis, based on a Comet kit for a 76XXX 2-6-0.   The Comet side frames needed a lot of alteration to fit the Bachmann body, and they also needed
Captain Kernow

Captain Kernow

0
backofanenvelope's blog

2FS: Brave new world

After spending time looking for a suitable project to get me started on 2mmFS loco building I was recommended this lovely little loco LNER E1(J72) which although is in the right region is not native to the area I want to model, so modelling licence comes into play I think but it wouldn't look out of place in the location I have set and would be a worth shedded loco at the Leyburn Shed. It looks a beautiful kit and came in wonderful packaging with real brown paper something I thought that
backofanenvelope

backofanenvelope

2
Bath Spa in N (was Burwood)

Baseboards and noise reduction

My girlfriend and I recently moved into a new house. Something that immediately got put on the list of things to replace were the hideous internal doors. A side effect of this was that I was left with no less than 5 standard 1970x755mm doors and one slightly larger one ... I wonder what they could be used for? Having already done a fair bit or research on baseboards I was aware that hollow core doors tend to be very noisy as baseboards - as the cavity in the centre acts like a sounding box o
Rabs

Rabs

0
Bath Spa in N (was Burwood)

Hello

Hi everyone, I've created this blog to document the build of my first layout - which is called Burwood. I'm an electronic engineer by profession - and I hope to incorporate a significant degree of automation in the layout. This might stretch to computer control and a scripted timetable but at the very least I hope to control operations remotely without any interference from the big pink finger in the sky. Having previously played with HO as a child I've chosen N scale as a compromise betwe
Rabs

Rabs

0

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