Marcus 37 Posted July 20, 2016 Author Share Posted July 20, 2016 Hi Marcus Loads of progress! The tractors look great. - how did you do the straw bales or do you buy them like that? I'm biased towards the Massey Ferguson tractor (the factory was opposite my school and I worked on the refurbishment of their tower block HQ (that was blown up a year or so ago to make way for a housing estate!)) I like the rusted look on those relay cabs too. Have you got any of the concrete cable trunking on PDW? I got some for my last layout that was Wills i think, but i need about 30' worth this time, and don't want to use Wills as it will cost a fortune - need to look for an alternative..... keep up the good work Hi Trev Thanks for the compliments mate. The bales are Harburn Hamlets. They either come as a stack of 10 like that or you can get them singularly in packs of 5. Banner Lane, had the pleasure of visiting the factory in 1989 when I was at Agricultral college. The 200 series production line was still in full swing then. A real shame when it closed. Another bit of British Industry gone. Even back then the 600 series production line had been set up in France. As for the concrete trunking I use plastistruct for the channel and plasticard for the lids. It's a bit time consuming but looks good when it's done and as the troughs are individual you can route it where you want rather than the long straights of the Wills kit. Cheers Marcus 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted July 20, 2016 Author Share Posted July 20, 2016 There's quite a bit of trunking in this picture as an example of how it looks. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
big T Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 (edited) There's quite a bit of trunking in this picture as an example of how it looks. image.jpg Glorious Banner Lane haha! Not! Did you go to Moreton Morrell college? My brother studied Agriculture there.... I like the look of the trunking youve done there, and the colours are good too. How do you replicate the lids mate? Do you score the plasticard? Trev Edited July 20, 2016 by big T 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron Horse Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 That trunking looks ace Marcus, fortunately my layout was small so I used the Wills trunking but I can imagine on a large layout it would get very expensive, very quickly. I still didn't like the straight runs though so I cut them up into individual pieces to lay anyhow!!!!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted July 20, 2016 Author Share Posted July 20, 2016 Glorious Banner Lane haha! Not! Did you go to Moreton Morrell college? My brother studied Agriculture there.... I like the look of the trunking youve done there, and the colours are good too. How do you replicate the lids mate? Do you score the plasticard? Trev Hi Trev I didn't go to Moreton Morrel for my course. I ended up at the NAC at Stonleigh as they had a college there as well. Used to be great there and we' were always getting into trouble razzing the tractors round the show ground. And seeing how many people we could get into my mates beat up Vauxhall Cavilier to go to the canteen at Dinner time. Roof, Bonnet, you name it. Ah the good old days. I do know Moreton Morrel really well as my mate is their next door neighbour. He even sold one of his fields to them for building the horse riding arena. Small world isn't it. We've even borrowed machinery from them before now. Ok, enough reminiscing. The tops are all cut individually so no need for scoring. Yes, sounds like a ball ache, but once you get into your stride and some decent music for accompaniment it's not to bad. Certainly no worse than Ballasting track. Cheers Marcus 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted July 20, 2016 Author Share Posted July 20, 2016 That trunking looks ace Marcus, fortunately my layout was small so I used the Wills trunking but I can imagine on a large layout it would get very expensive, very quickly. I still didn't like the straight runs though so I cut them up into individual pieces to lay anyhow!!!!!! Hi Adrian Yes Wills would have been really expensive to use. There must be at least 39' of trunking on PDW as its 13' x 13' so discounting the fiddle yard it's around that figure. I think the Wills kits make around a foot. So at £4 a pack.........Cherrrrching!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Like the 58 as well, How do you get in with the Heljan product ? I never rated their stuff but could really use a bone.. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted July 20, 2016 Author Share Posted July 20, 2016 Like the 58 as well, How do you get in with the Heljan product ? I never rated their stuff but could really use a bone.. Apart from Some detail flaws they'll pull a bl**dy house down. No issues in the performance department. Wouldn't mind another 58 in all honesty. I've got 3 of their duffs and 3 Mc Rats as well. Never had any problems with any of them. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 Like the 58 as well, How do you get in with the Heljan product ? I never rated their stuff but could really use a bone.. Hi Rob, interested in what you say about Heljan, I have a couple of 47's, 3 x 33;s and have previously owned 3 x 26 and 27's, I find them quieter and more controllable in DCC than Bachmann. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted July 20, 2016 Share Posted July 20, 2016 I had a few 47s from the first release onwards. Never found them very controllable under DCC, o mph to 100 in a heart beat. Subsequently I think they needed a higher rated decoder as their current draw is large I believe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
big T Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I had a few 47s from the first release onwards. Never found them very controllable under DCC, o mph to 100 in a heart beat. Subsequently I think they needed a higher rated decoder as their current draw is large I believe. Don't most Heljan locos have a large current draw? I have heard they are notorious for blowing decoders? Has anyone fitted sound to a Heljan bone? I have one and would like to fit sound as its a cracking model. A mate of mine once told me 58's were good for a ton, and he'd had that on a drag once! Ideal for Freightliners apparently. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 A victim of too many EWS 66s and a shrinking market share ! I only saw a few of them - I have a squashed £1 coin somewhere that went under the wheels of 58040, The things kids do ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.C.M Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Don't most Heljan locos have a large current draw? I have heard they are notorious for blowing decoders? Has anyone fitted sound to a Heljan bone? I have one and would like to fit sound as its a cracking model. A mate of mine once told me 58's were good for a ton, and he'd had that on a drag once! Ideal for Freightliners apparently. Hi Trev, A mate of mine on here has done one. Jeff aka SRman has a layout thread I am sure he has done some video of it running. I have seen it on a mates layout and it sounded pretty good to me. Cheers Peter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
big T Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 (edited) Hi Trev, A mate of mine on here has done one. Jeff aka SRman has a layout thread I am sure he has done some video of it running. I have seen it on a mates layout and it sounded pretty good to me. Cheers Peter. Ill see if i can find that thread Peter, thank you. Sorry for the tangent Marcus Edited July 21, 2016 by big T Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 Don't most Heljan locos have a large current draw? I have heard they are notorious for blowing decoders? Has anyone fitted sound to a Heljan bone? I have one and would like to fit sound as its a cracking model. A mate of mine once told me 58's were good for a ton, and he'd had that on a drag once! Ideal for Freightliners apparently. Don't worry about the tangent mate. Carry on to your hearts content as its all interesting stuff. Remember coming back from Laira open day in 1991 on a Pathfinder tour with a pair on the front. Certainly the fastest I've ever been up the Lickey. They would probably have made better passenger loco's that freight. Always suffered with adhesion problems in poor weather on heavy trains. Would have been good for intermodal back then but not so sure about now as most of ours are around the 2000t mark which even the 66s struggle to keep to time. I haven't DCC fitted the 47's or 58 yet as PDW is still DC at the moment although all the droppers are soldered in ready for DCC operation. The 3 26's on KoLW are sweet enough though on DCC. Poor things haven't had a run for ages as Anthony's more interested in PDW now. Must have a track clean and a dust off of KoLW and have a running session. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 Hi Trev, A mate of mine on here has done one. Jeff aka SRman has a layout thread I am sure he has done some video of it running. I have seen it on a mates layout and it sounded pretty good to me. Cheers Peter. Have always wanted to here a 58 without the silencer fitted as it's basically a pimped up 37 engine. Just curious to see if there is any resemblance between the two. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob D2 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I read a thing today about half the fleet now in storage in a French town. The current scene would have been a lot more exciting if freightliner , GBRF etc had not won so much work from EWS and they still had their planned fleet of 250 X 66 , 100 X 60, 100 X 56 , 50 x58 , and 75 class 37s ! Best laid plans and all that.....but that's the joy of free market competition ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed a/c Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I have two 58s, two 128s, 57, 87 (until it fell off the layout) & a Lab 20 railbus. I use the bog standard Bachmann decoders, all run very nicely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 I read a thing today about half the fleet now in storage in a French town. The current scene would have been a lot more exciting if freightliner , GBRF etc had not won so much work from EWS and they still had their planned fleet of 250 X 66 , 100 X 60, 100 X 56 , 50 x58 , and 75 class 37s ! Best laid plans and all that.....but that's the joy of free market competition ! Oh I don't know. Deltics on the Alcans, Wizzo's on the Scunthorpe, Choppers on the S Stock, 47s on the Sand, 73's on the sleepers. 92s when they work, 86 & 87's on the sleepers. Doesn't come much more interesting than that. But I may be biased........ 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
big T Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Ive got an original Railfreight cabside sticker from a 58....original from 1983 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I have two 58s, two 128s, 57, 87 (until it fell off the layout) & a Lab 20 railbus. I use the bog standard Bachmann decoders, all run very nicely. That's interesting what you say about the Bachmann Decoders, I found they gave a motor buzz, I've now switched to Gaugemaster DCC27 the 8/21 pin ones for finer quieter running in the NONE Sound Locos, both Steam and Diesel. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Removed a/c Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 That's interesting what you say about the Bachmann Decoders, I found they gave a motor buzz, I've now switched to Gaugemaster DCC27 the 8/21 pin ones for finer quieter running in the NONE Sound Locos, both Steam and Diesel. Weird ?! With the exception of a couple of the Hattons decoders and my Hornby DCC fitted HST all my decoders are Bachmann (about 30) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus 37 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 Must admit, I've never had any problems with Bachmann decoders either. Wonder if they don't like the gaugemaster controller. Although PDW has a Gaugemaster Prodigy Express. The plot thickens...... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulcan product fan Posted July 22, 2016 Share Posted July 22, 2016 Must admit, I've never had any problems with Bachmann decoders either. Wonder if they don't like the gaugemaster controller. Although PDW has a Gaugemaster Prodigy Express. The plot thickens...... Had a Bachmann in my Heljan 47 and my prodigy express hated it so swaped it for dcc concepts decoders as with most of my locos and all run very smooth at slow speed . 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Temeraire Posted July 22, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 22, 2016 I have a couple of dozen Heljan locos all with Bachmann 36-553 decoders in (unless they have sound) all run perfectly as long as the wheels are clean. I use the Gaugemaster Prodigy system and usually set the TV to 16 to slow them down and they all run smoothly at all speeds. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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