big jim

i dont think they are full, they dont have hatches fitted, marcus will confirm as he drives the s-stock train all the time

a blank canvas started to think of a few ideas, if i start the curves futher back on the opposite side of the layout i can get the curves where i want them, the wooden sleeper curves are a pair of 3rd radius Hornby set track i use as a template the pencil line to the right is 1/2 way round the curve placed the old town baseboard on top to see how it looked, also on the rear i placed the 140mm wide offcut where the "unhidden" section will run on the lower level i placed the scissor crossover and a set of points, the left hand line that runs to them is the line from the p-way yard then i put a bit more track down and the shed to see how it fitted, the line to the left of it will be a small terminus station looking the other way i had a look at the removable section, im going to do away with the river cutting and place the lower level track on terra firma, this time there will be 3 tracks, the nearest one being from the other end of the p-way yard, it currently joins the mainline on the removable section, the curve is far less severe now that will then come round and join the mainline at the opposite side of the scissor crossing, an extra set of points can head off into the shed area you will have to imagine this track is on the high level bit of the removable section, again it should reduce the curve going back to the "shelf" along the back this is the 14cm wide offcut from the wood i had cut at B&Q now i did plan on having the station on the bottom level but i recon i can get it on the top again, it wont be as long as before but i recon it will work, i switched the offcut for the original high level board to see how it looked with the extra width, again, imagine it narrowed down at the far end of the bridge but flaring out this side of it couple of platforms in each direction hopefully adding an extra set of points means i will be able to run in both directions through all platforms if i do the same both ends, also if i run a unit from the low level small terminal station to the main station i can cross over to the right line and run back with any luck i can really start to crack on with it over the next few weeks and get it all back up and running

and the bottom boards are out... gonna pop to B&Q in a bit to get some fresh ones cut then i can crack on with rebuilding it i have had a think about the removable section too, i may well redesign that, i could potentially reduce the curve where the track joins on the fixed section (not that im having any problems but i got a nice lazer cut girder bridge from hobby goblin which would look good on there)

as nice as that loco is its an awful one to try and photograph at night!! one from today, manned the NMT on crewe carriage shed while a coach was wheel turned road learning tomorrow and friday unless i get taken off for something else

Some from today, a day on the shunt, actually a long day on the shunt Super moon 37421 97301 37025 and 37421 37025 and 37057 37057's train has one of the ex motorail vans in the formation for brake force TRU unit My 08 I had to split the NMT for some work to be carried out, at least if I can't get a full rake of coaches for my Hornby model I have a prototype train to model And all back together And that was that for the day

Simply wonderful

some from last night, proper camera pics but no tripod RHTT shrewsbury to Craven Arms and Bidston coleham new loco on the train last night ready to depart craven arms and away to bidston wrexham and back to shrewsbury and that was that

im a bit concerned about those cows above the rockface in the second picture, there's no fence so they may tumble onto the tracks while grazing!

Those are the kids play engines, a Hornby virgin 06 shunter and a 'super S' 0-4-0 from the 70s I've had a couple of additions to the fleet this week, first up Hornby NMT powercars courtesy of eBay for a shade over £90 which I'm well pleased with the Hornby coaches are like rocking horse doings now so I may well go down the Electra graphics route and vinyl up some standard MK3s to suit or possibly if I'm feeling brave get the phdesigns NMT coach etches and respray some myself Then today I got this from the hobby goblin in burslem, totally out of era but it's so nice and quite hard to come by I decided to have it anyway, an absolute bargain at £85 DCC chipped and beautifully weathered with etched plates etc Had I been 10 minutes earlier I'd have probably ended up with a couple more locos the bloke in front bought!!

more destruction, sorry, progress earlier.... lifted the top boards this is one of the points causing problems... which i can now get rid of and keep the mainline as plain rail by slewing the track over slightly if i keep the high level tracks as close as possible when i refit them i will be able to have the mainline running in front of the "shelf/wall" and the new line from the yard will have to go into a scenic tunnel for a short section below the high level tracks, in case of derailments i'll fix the retaining wall in place with magnetic tape as i did with the town area so i can simply pull it away if i need to took all the low level track out too and the points off the removable section as they wont be needed any more to get a rough idea of what i want to do i placed a couple of lengths of track on the removable section and slewed the track below then using some card i thought i'd see how it would look as an enclosed area again, this time a lot shorter than before the wood along the front will be shortened to about where the card ends and looking the other way as you can see with the amount of holes in the bottom boards i will need to replace the lot, i did consider simply fitting thinner ply over the top of the existing boards but the time it will take to do that i may as well just put new down, may have a go at removing them tomorrow, again a simple job, the most time consuming part is going to be getting the new boards from B&Q and getting them cut down

Are you going to include one of these on deadmans?

While the mojo was there I quickly made a start on the above plan Cleared the buildings off the station side And 1/2 hour later..... No turning back now!! Next job is to remove the high level boards, simple job only a few screws, then renew the lower boards as i have cut holes in it to retrieve derailments so they are not reuseable Hopefully I'll get a bit more done over the weekend

you know what, ive been sitting here thinking i've had enough, im going to start again, rip it out etc but ive missed the most obvious way of rectifying the problems i've been having witht the layout and the fix won't involve having to start afresh and i'll still have what i want from the layout! quite simply the main issue is the track condition leading to the hidden area from the inclines causing derailments in the hidden part of the layout, simple(ish) solution, transpose the station side of the layout, turn it on its head as it were and put the station area on the lower baseboard and have the high level part a simple 2 track "shelf" along the side wall of the shed, ie the lines running atop a retaining wall/viaduct behind the now exposed lower section that way i will be able to keep the side of the layout ive already sceniced up (while tidying up the trackwork) feel so much more positive about it now

seems like ages since i got the proper camera out, especially in daylight! anyway my job tonight is cancelled so i had to go to derby to collect the van i left at the RTC for my relief driver so i can use it again some pics from crewe and derby

Hmmm, is that not Andy Y's profile picture..... The no politics rule is suddenly making sense

Only managed one pic today, should have been on this derby to Stockport and back to rugby via new st but the route conductor I had getting on at Stoke to see me through to Stockport via Macclesfield said he was booked to work it from there to rugby so I could get off, you couldn't see me for dust!! (TBH I was a bit dissapointed as I was looking forward to a good blast up the wcml with it)

You have to enjoy it or getting up at stupid o clock in the morning or driving vans all over the country would drive you mad!

Some from tonight 37025 on a UTU train And a video https://youtu.be/USJoszxj98M Some stills from the video, hence a bit blurred In this final pic you can see the laser that shoots out from the SGT on the side of the bridge, as I was in range I would have been captured too!

quite simple, hotel booked by work, do the job, go to hotel, have a sleep, work a train the next day or travel home

crazy thing is the complicated lift out section isnt causing problems now its all soldered up properly, its the shoddy trackwork on the risers, or more the transisions between the flat and incline outside section is a definate no no unfortunatly or it would be off round the borders in the garden! the layout is "what i want" ie a roundy roundy with plenty of length to give the locos a good workout and not just appear through the station with every circuit, and thats the problem, if i did decide to rebuild it id probably still end up going down the figure of 8 route and im worried i'll be in the same situation as im in now a few years down the line the saving grace is ive not done too much in the way of scenics on it and what i have done has come adrif in places, ie retaining walls come away from the risers, ballast not sticking down properly so it wont be a hassle to lift what i have done, obviously the ready to plant buildings can be re-used etc, all i'll really lose is the bits of scenics ive done with metcalfe brick paper etc i'm feeling 99.9% that ripping it up (carefully) and starting afresh is going to be the way forward, right the way down to new baseboards (keeping the existing frames) another reason i feel like a change is when i started this layout i worked for chiltern so had a lot of passenger stock, units, coaches etc so i concentrated on making a decent sized station, now since colas i have a lot of freight stock, IM trains etc so im thinking of making the yard bigger (ie longer sidings) and having a small 2 or 3 car station that the likes of the 'wag' passing through and having just units stop there, as ive said previously a junction dropping to a lower level appeals to me at the minute the biggest inspiration in getting is chris leigh's harbour layout as featured in this months model rail, the railway running on a bridge high up over a townscape appeals to me, whether i could pull it off is another matter!

Ok, some from today, derby shunt all day Early morning sunshine... 56302 coming off etches park Then I did my favourite move, I can do all sorts of jobs, HSTs, freight, coaching stock, tamper moves etc but my favourite is taking the 08 out on the mainline, had to go from the RTC to etches park via the station and back Did loads of other moves but didn't bother with pics, far too busy!

That's where TPWS gets its name from, "Toilet Paper With S***"

I've got too much OO stuff to consider doing that, admittedly it did cross my mind but I've ruled it out

still undecided on what to do with the layout, ive got plenty of ideas in my head that i could see transferred to the shed but i think i'd be struggling for space to see them through, i'm thinking if i rebuild the mainline would just be on one (raised from the baseboard) level with a single line junction dropping away to baseboard height ideally i'd like to lose the removable section but i'd struggle to get a pair of turn back "loops" either side of the shed and still leave enough room to get in through the door, even if i staggered them and made curved edge baseboards i'd be struggling! decisions decisions

Blimey, can't I even have a weekend off!! Job was cancelled Thursday and I've been to Tenby with the family (DJ'd on the same bill as Black Lace!), nice and refreshed now, first full weekend off for months Back to it tomorrow morning though