Andrew Young

Thanks Chris! Your generosity is endless. I'm at work on Saturday, so won't be there until Sunday, if you're around I'll come and say hello. As for the wallet emptying assistance, already have a DCC Peckett on order with EDM Models. Cheers, Andrew

No progress on the layout to report, keeping the place tidy for house viewings and showing people round has killed my layout mojo for now. However, this weekend's wallet emptying bonanza that is Guildex may well inspire.... Have made some progress on the fiddly bits of the coach that seem to take ages, made up the seats and all is ready now for a big polishing session and priming. If I pull my finger out, that'll take place before the weekend. There have been some distractions of late unsurprisingly... First was a Belgian Spa Weekend, a long weekend at the Spa Francorchamps Circuit in the Ardennes Forest for the F1 and other races. Great fun. Then last weekend, the Bank Holiday was the latest Gala Weekend celebrating Talyllyn 150, including All Night Steam with trains running from Saturday morning, through the night and finishing Sunday evening. Being a shift worker, I opted for playing trains at silly o'clock in the night and was rostered for the 3:55am train in the dark and 8:45am in the morning sunshine. A short walk from my flat and I was able to commute to Pendre by train in the middle of the night. My steed for the night was 'Dolgoch' and aided by coffee, we got her ready, including a spot of 'pimp my ride'... Actually, Glow Sticks are very useful for seeing gauges by without using torches. Seen it was time to take the Old Lady of the Night out to Wharf and find our train. The trains were really busy til about 3am, with Wharf cafe open til late and a bar up at Abergynolwyn til midnight. There was just tea and cake by the time we got up there. By the time of our train those travelling were the hardcore few who'd settled down for the night, though there was the odd new passenger who was as mad as we were. Hopefully, might have some more modelling to show soon.... But it's been a fun summer! Cheers, Andrew

Looking forward to seeing these at Telford. Shame about the lined green one as that's the one I have on order. Please could you post some photos of it here when it lands? Thanks, Andrew

If a trader is telling people to complain to the manufacturer direct for faulty goods then quite what has that got to do with the Guild? It's like someone passing on the same comment through RMWeb and an ex-RMWebber saying they're glad they left here. Pointless comment. Don't shoot the messenger, shoot the packaging designer! Andrew

Dava, The photos look good, I'll be looking out for them at Guildex in a couple of weeks to see one 'in the plastic' so to speak. An interesting point regarding kit/rtr, whilst tempted, as I have a Vulcan kit for the Terrier to build I picked up at a very reasonable price at an exhibition, I have yet to give into temptation. Some people just prefer building kits. Personally, I'm not averse to rtr locos, but with a rather nice kit for the prototype to build which I can make into a unique model and enjoy building at the same time. Of course, there is the temptation to have an A1 and an A1X, one kit built and one Dapol. But that would be silly wouldn't it....? :-) Cheers, Andrew

That'd be good, especially if there was a 7mm scale option... Cheers, Andrew

Didn't the BR Research chaps at Derby have an autocoach which ended up on B4 bogies...? Cracking work as always Mr Jinty!! Cheers, Andrew

Happiness is... New fibreglass pencil brushes apparently! My modelling mojo often takes a hit in the summer with all the distractions, this one being no different. Not helped by the uncertainties of a house move just as I'm getting the layout on the move. However, I may have a cunning plan for that... So turned attention this week to the Selsey coach. With the main construction complete, I'd realised quite how much detail was needed to be added to be satisfying to my eyes. First up was to clean the tarnished brass and my fibreglass pencil was just not cleaning it as I'd expected. An afternoon of hard scraping nearly saw the thing thrown out the window as I looked longingly at Slaters plastic coaches!! Salvation was at hand with an EBay order for more fibreglass brush refills. Have heard of people dipping them in PVA glue to reduce the number of stray hairs digging in your hands the new ones arrived, bonded together and made far lighter work of cleaning the brass, a short while later I had a shiny carriage and my faith restored! This was followed by some research into these carriages, both the Selsey ones and the similar ones on the Caradon and Looe Railway, in particular the under frame which looked very bare. The photo shows the last detail parts going on, some brake rodding which started life as point rodding and some Grandt Line Westinghouse Brake parts. Much happier with the level of detail now, it's time for one more scrubbing and the painting process can start. Cheers, Andrew

It's tough, but I try to cope.... We could do with a few more Guards and Blockmen if anyone else fancies 'living the dream'...? My university holidays were spent working in one of the pubs in Tywyn and I ended up a Guard and Blockman as well as loco duties. Still do a few days Blocking each year to keep my hand in, a lie in and relaxing day throwing tokens at passing antique kettles contrasts to my more usual loco volunteering. Cheers, Andrew

Some particularly anti-socially hour shifts and jobs making a the house ready for the market meant there was no time or inclination for spiking track. The weekend saw us joining my girlfriend's Mum in revisiting the site of her accident in May on the Montgomery Canal. No one fell in and it all went very well, walking two sections of the Monty saw three kingfishers in all, you can tell the canal is pretty quiet! After an excellent pub dinner in Maesbury, driving back to Tywyn (as it was about halfway, we'd gone to Tywyn and hitched a lift so we could drink rather than drive) involved a run through the Tanat Valley. Will have to return sometime to explore both the Tanat Valley and the Monty further. Staying in Tywyn meant a bonus day volunteering on the Talyllyn, spent sun bathing at Brynglas as Blockman. Sat outside having lunch and a pair of Red Kites appeared overhead, hope they weren't hoping for anything! After my comments last week, have demonstrated just how well an Oakwood Press book fits into the TR Rules & Regs, plus the other Blocking essentials. Back home and back to modelling. Pleased to report that the final bits of track have been spiked down, the last being the siding in front of the creamery. Was finding the spiking quite tedious by the end! Time for the next challenge, the Electrickery.... First I need to work out what supplies I need to get in to make this happen. Cheers, Andrew

Thanks, have had many purchases through ABE Books over the years.... No danger of me stopping now! Whilst there might be a pause in layout building shortly with the impending house move, our house should be on the market by the end of the week, any pause will see my modelling time switch to locos and rolling stock until the layout is in its new home. Cheers, Andrew

Yes DLT, I wonder whether the naming of the loco was in part an attempt to appeal to Lord Armstrong's generosity? Brack, yes, was a continuing an interesting relationship between the NSR and Lord Armstrong. Was a very useful, influential and wealthy man to have living just down the road! Martin, no, not the easiest place to go looking for esoteric railway books! Have quite an extensive collection of Oakwood Press books on the more bucolic lines, bought over the years by rummaging around in various second hand book stalls at exhibitions and on visits to preserved railways. You never know which box might unearth a gem. Think Amazon or ABEBooks are your best bet from afar. I do rather like the Oakwood books, nicely compact, with plenty of information describing the line, how it was worked and with what stock was used as well as a concise chapter on how the line came about. The size is also just right for slipping into my Talyllyn Rules & Signalling Regs folder when manning a TR signalling shack for the day... Cheers, Andrew

To be fair to Dapol, this isn't new news. Hardly surprising considering the lengthy lead time from when the first batch price was announced and now. Put into context, even with the £50 price raise, the Terrier woukd still be similarly priced to the Ixion Hudswell Clarke. Cheers, Andrew

Very nice. Mine is also back from Paul and will shortly be entering the Paintshop... Nice weathering on your version, very suitable. Cheers, Andrew

Brack, correct. As the North Sunderland Railway was struggling to attract enough investors at the time, my suspicion is that the proposal for an extension to Bamburgh may well have been intended as a carrot to attract Lord Armstrong of Bamburgh Castle to invest in the line, which he subsequently did. There's an excellent Oakwood Press book on the line, my holiday reading was chosen carefully with our tour in mind... Cheers, Andrew

Rather belatedly, some more photos from Foxfield are on my Flickr page: https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/pandaonetwofive/sets/72157654095938074/ The delay in uploading (and the lack of modelling last week) has been due to enjoying the second week of my summer leave. We borrowed my parents' camper van and headed north for the week. Mostly spent exploring the Northumberland Coast, the view overlooking the coast and Holy Island at Beal was particularly impressive. Nearby, think we stumbled across Minerva Models' northern hideaway... There were also plenty of Castles, including this one at Bamburgh (didn't there used to be a railway near there...) Touring southwards, we spent an excellent day at Beamish, a fantastic living museum, plenty of inspiration. Found a couple of wonderfully weird machines and will have to return when they're in steam. Spent a moment or two drooling over a couple of machines next door which won't steam for a little while. Squeezed in some steam with a visit to a different TR, the Tanfield Railway. A cracking run behind 'Sir Cecil A Cochrane' and a look round the atmospheric Marley Hill shed. Our final stop was a night in Masham, The Black Sheep Brewery providing just as adept at fine food as well as fine ale, followed the following morning by heading home the scenic way and the ghosts of reservoir builders in Colsterdale and Nidderdale. It's back home, back to work and back to the modelling bench. Cheers, Andrew

That really does look the part. The sheet of wriggly tin you had the problems with has come out looking very effective. Cheers, Andrew

Yes Chris, looked a bit 'out of the box', did look rather nice in the morning sun though. Marc, would certainly be an interesting prototype! More infornation here: http://www.vintagecarriagestrust.org/Bell.htm Cheers, Andrew

No modelling today, instead, I've been out enjoying the sunny weather at Foxfield. It's their gala this weekend and the visiting loco is 'Wissington'. Having a full size version of the Ixion Hudswell Clarke less than half an hour's drive away was too much to resist!! Also had a ride on the Knotty Train, very suitable for such a line as the Foxfield. Chance to ride again behind 'Bellerophon'. A lovely antique kettle, the lack of even a kit in 7mm scale is disappointing. An ideal prototype for thae nice Mr Klein to produce...? A couple of photos from this morning... Cheers, Andrew

Ken, The Kadee tool sounds good, the pliers are very time consuming though I do like the look of the track it produces. I'm also impressed by the strength of the grip the spikes have on the rail, by no means inferior to soldered joints. Oh and calling Kadee Kaydee makes Mr Martin very angry... Cheers, Andrew

Ken, I have use of a pair of 'Spike Insertion Pliers' made in America by Micro Mark. Essentially, they're a pair of pliers with a 'T' shaped groove cut in the nose to grip the spike. The tools used are shown here: The order of work I've followed is: 1. Glue template to board. 2. Glue sleepers to template. 3. Once dry, lay out first rail by eye. 4. Drill 0.5mm diameter pilot holes for spikes. (An Archimedes screw type drill was recommended to me for this and has proved worth its weight in gold!) 5. Trim the heads of the spikes with the end cutters (I do them in batches) so they sit snugly against the foot of the rail. 6. Insert spikes with pliers. 7. Hammer home spikes with hammer and punch. 8. Align second rail using roller gauges (with care, the C&L ones can be used). 9. Repeat steps 4 to 7 with rail held to gauge. 10. Repeat Ad Nauseum until all rail is laid. For fishplates, I've trimmed C&L ones to act as joggle plates where it meets the bullhead rail and fettled the rail head with a needle file to achieve as level a rail head as I can. For fishplates between two lengths of flat bottomed rail, I've used the 3D printed ones sold by Zamzoodled designed for the lighter section rail and they seem to work so far, but then the spikes do hold the rail very tightly to the sleeper. Glad that I'm nearing the end of this track laying session, although a short section compared to some layouts, it does seem to have taken an age! I'm pleased with the results though and once you get into the swing of it, a couple of hours with some relaxing music is quite therapeutic! Plus, having the board height at 4ft ish, not too back breaking either. Cheers, Andrew

Thought you might! I really like how the Manning Wardle looks with the Selsey coach... Cheers, Andrew

True Don! In theory there's continuous brakes, facing point locking, signals and block working to differentiate the two. But in practice, just because it was fitted doesn't mean it was used! Cheers, Andrew

Thanks gents. Some more progress to report. In addition to getting on with a few jobs round the house, I've been making some progress with the coach and also been up in the attic laying some more track. Spiking flat bottom rail is like many other things in life, a knack. One which causes you a lot of cursing whilst you get the knack then seems relatively straight forward after. So yesterday's initial track laying was met by lots of cursing. However, this morning, a steady session aided by some suitably relaxing music has seen nearly half the first siding laid. Have to admit, I do prefer the flimsy look of the F/B rail more than the bullhead, more in keeping with what I'm trying to achieve. Lined up against the MW, there's more of a tramway air about the place than a Light Railway, maybe the MVR will evolve into the MVT? Who knows?! The ankle is well on the mend, and I'm off the antibiotics. There will be more track laying tomorrow, but first, a drink or two in Burton beckons this afternoon... Cheers, Andrew

Thanks Jinty. The coach has come out better and squarer than I'd expected so rather pleased with it. A quaint little thing at a 37' long bogie coach. The ankle is mending well thanks, antibiotics course ends on Sunday and hopefully back at work next week so hopefully get in the attic soon. Cheers, Andrew