big jim

With an rmweb member on the platform too

Not really thought about signals yet, i do have a stack of 2nd hand traintronics 2 aspect signals which will do just to get signals on there but doing it prototypically will be a pain as there are lots of shunt signals and position lights needed

looking really good, the trees make all the difference to the bit you've done

So a couple of jobs... First up epoxy'd a brass tubular section to the removable section to replace the damaged PCB, got to remove the old solder from it and redo it once its in situ to make sure the track is correctly aligned Then i laid the cork in the depot and fixed in the points and track ao thats that bit done now Then i slotted in the removable section and had a play Overview of the whole layout, starting to take shape nicely now

a bit more done today, couldnt go out anywhere as both of my cars are broken so i locked myself in the shed and did a bit more earlier in the week i printed off a sheet of coping stones i downloaded from modelrailwayscenery.com, you basically cut them into strips to what ever width you require i also libirated a number of wooden coffee stirrers from a local fast food restraunt to which i glued a strip of the copings scored the edge, folded the sides down and glued then stuck them to the top of the retaining wall by the low relief houses, looks much better than the plasticard i'd previously used i'm going to use them for the retaining walls around the high level town and the bridge down etc, the beauty is i can make them whatever width i need i then went on to the 2nd part of the low relief offices, as i suspected the original print had resized and was smaller than the one i printed the other night, i adapted it slightly and its not too noticable the print quality of this one isnt as good as the first for some reason, however the colour is better in my opinion and its not come out as glossy which is a bonus, the problem being is this print is very easy to scratch and scuff compared to the first as you can see by a few white marks on it and joined to the other piece, still got a few bits of fine detail to add such as the 'flashing' in the middle of the building and window sills and in place i also downloaded my first item from scale scenes, this time ive gone for roads and pavements, i've not printed the whole elements off, just a few to see how they look but there are extra elements with bus stops, taxi rank etc just plonking some of the elements down you can get an idea of what you can achieve similarly up the top you can cut out individual elements and place them on the road i'm liking this set up when i get round to that part of the scenics, put a bit of an angle in to avoid everything in that corner being square basically a wide pavement in front of the station entrance and a bus stop/drop off area on the other side of the road with a one way exit heading off scene, the centre piece could then be the park/green area i mentioned, or possibly even a few small buildings there are a couple of ways the road elements are laid out that are a bit annoying (in case mr scalescenes is reading this!) for example a piece of plain road is on the same sheet as a one way street element with arrows on both sides of the carriageway, so to print that off i have a wasted road element (without modifying it), 2 normal pieces of road on one sheet would be far more useful, possibly even a junction or crossroads element would be handy

Not any room for trap points as you say, there are quite a few things on the layout that aren't exactly prototypical such as the train leaving the station and returning back through it again in the same direction a few minutes later!! Typically thiugh ive put some catch points exiting the yard area but forgot to add a point motor hole so they are just sat there cosmetically, the problem being you cant see them from normal viewing angles

Thanks mick, finally seen an up to date pic of it!

not seen any pics of 057 yet, i've tried to get on the 37 traction course this coming week but its not happening unfortunatly, i used to sign them at DRS so i only need a refresh

available from wigan warriors shop http://store.wiganwarriors.com/2-for-%A33-no-pies-car-sticker-p-no-pies-sticker-c-assorted.html

The mornings are definatly staying darker longer, no chance of a decent iphone pic in shrewsbury (plus it was too wet and cold so i couldnt be bothered to get out of the cab) so just one from hereford 60096 on the baglans this time

already done, see the pics above, i passed under a grider with brick on top bridge in walsall last week and that was good enough for me

ive just realised something looking at the pics, the top right window column is upside down, the blinds are going the wrong way and the windows are slightly out of line to all the others i've just printed off another 2 sets of buildings ready to extend and i noticed, just as i was about to start printing that the printer had, by default set the size to "shrink to fit the page" so i honestly dont know if i've printed the existing building slightly smaller (97%) than the one i've just printed, i wont know until i get back in the shed and compare sizes, if they differ i'll have to print another 2 smaller sets and re-use the ones ive just done elsewhere

Little job for the afternoon, as i mentioned the other week i bought myself a download 'office backs' card kit from scale model scenery which i printed off last week and mounted onto some card (cereal packet) and i decided to have a go at building it today, the original kit is for a 3 story office block but i needed 5 storeys so i printed off a complete kit and some extras to extend upwards The result was this, As you can see ive cut the bottom of it off so i can place it on the layout, its only about 5mm thick so fits nicely behind the platform wall 2 storeys are below the town road level and 3 above it, ive adapted the windows on the top half as the bottom row have anti burgler railings printed on them, not much point 3 storeys up! The next stage is to print off another 2 kits and extend the whole thing another kit long, possibly even 3 kits long, then it will revert to 3 storeys towards the depot end of the station, im thinking once its complete to brand it up as a tesco local or similar town centre supermarket, shop floor on floor 3 and storage rooms below etc

Next one in the series arrived this morning in a big box... It would appear to be able to fit the free gift in, which is a set of coasters, unless they have had complaints of damaged boxes from the previous poor packaging? The model is quite nice, very orange, will benefit from a bit of weathering, i do have somewhere i can place it on the layout thankfully The leaflet that came with it says the next free gift is a box to put the certificates in, i think i've thrown all mine away though! Also says the airport tender is in the collection, i thought that had been dropped (or am i thinking of the helicopter), doesnt say which model will be next though

for once! Kids back in school today, peace and quiet and some 'me time'

Bit more done this morning First up, cut out some more terraced houses, placed temporarily on the layout Then i added brick paper to the town area, ive stuck it to the foamboard which i'll mount to the ply with velcro dots so i can get into the tunnel to clean the track etc I passed under a bridge in walsall last week that was the perfect prototype to what i was trying to achieve here, basically i wasnt sure if it would be brick with the steel girder above or vice versa, anyway it was vice versa And with the brick paper and platform column added Then i went back to the other side of the layout and turned the low relief warehouse round so it is on the other wall, i had to trim the retaining wall below the houses back by about 5mm to allow me to move the bridge parapet slightly so the warehouse could fit Then I could add some brick card into the tunnel mouth on the back wall So with the building moved the other way i ran the 'road' down to ground level along the rear wall Then i can have a medium high wall along the back wall with a gateway into the back of the factory, the bus is just there for sizing Getting there nicely now

Its a bit confusing where the tracks are still there too!! If you look in the sectional appendix the layout doesnt make sense as its lots of individual lines but when you see it from the ground it all becomes clear

Looks like wsmr/chiltern livery will soon be a thing of the past if they are repainting them as they come in for exam Shame i'm not allowed to take pics on toton as 013 was sat next to 027 yesterday when i went on the fuel plant for water

our own locos dont get washed very often purely because they very rarely get on shed in rugby for it to be done, i dont know if the 60 was washed at toton as its the latest one out so hasnt seen much work to get it too dirty When i get a chance to wash locos i do, as i did at chirk with one side of 66849, also when i go to etches park for fuel with the sinfin tanks if the loco wash is available i'll try and get through it for a quick once over

Up early today, dominic's first day in high school and he's getting the bus there, only thing is it picks up at 07:30 and were only 2 miles from the school, the bus takes a very circular route to the school! Rest day today so i can wave him off and see him return which is good

nice job today, should have been simple but nothing ever is! drove over to toton to collect 60056 had to have it topped up with water before i set off, typically the 60 next to it is the same one i photographed day in day out in carlisle while on the logs then it was off to doncaster, first stop rotherham masborough TPE 170 another view of the 60 and my favorite photographic set up, first time with a 60 though and into up decoy it was then a loco swap for 56113 which had to go to washwood heath, i departed up decoy via st catherine's Jn which is in interesting piece of line, its effectively a series of single lines when coming in from down decoy direction the line im stood on here while changing ends is a run round line the line the loco is on heads off towards shirebrook via maltby colliery and looking the other way... the single line straight ahead is towards kirk sandall, there is a red at the top of the hill where you get position lights to take down another single line into up decoy, the signal i have takes me back along another single line towards the mainline at the south end of down decoy the No 2 route indicator on both signals doesnt take you anywhere but looking at google maps there used to be a line that curved back and went towards the old viaduct that crosses the valley north of conisborough and on towards bolton upon dearne and off i went, round via thyborough jn again then through barrow hill towards toton, there was a problem with the schedule so i ended up sitting outside toton for 2 hours one train passed in all that time this made me smile... this nice shiny new sign sign indicates the end of the token section from the old stanton gate line the only thing is there is now a great big signal gantry sat right in the 4ft of that line, there is also a signal in place for that line too! eventually it was decided that the loco wasn't going to get to washwood heath in time so i ended up taking it to derby instead and leaving it in the station sidings before getting a taxi back to toton for my van as i say should have been a simple(ish) job but it ended up at almost 12 hours and i still didnt get to my destination, still it was one of those jobs where despite the delays etc i enjoyed it, always nice to do something a bit different from the norm, and get 60056 under my belt too

couple from shrewsbury earlier in the week from the proper camera just heading out to toton to collect 60056 and take it to doncaster, then 56113 back to washwood heath

The area in front of the shunters cabin was landscaped by one of the shunters, he laid nice chippings, sleeper borders, wood chopping area, pot plants and seating, looks quite nice to be honest

No issues at all, 4 seat together on the train from carlsle and straight out if the station and onto the bus, i think we were early enough to avoid the rugby crowds at haymarket, admittedly i didnt know there was a rugby match on though! The bus we got back from the zoo was a 100 from the airport which was a posh double decker with leather seats and tables, so we ended up sitting on the top deck and stayed on it to waverley to enjoy the sights into the city as it happened when it dropped us at the station and we only had 10 mins to wait for our almost empty train back, we were all so knackered we fell asleep but my weird instinct of waking up 5 mins from our destination kicked in as we crossed the solway into england, not that it would have mattered as the train was terminating in crewe so if we had overslept we could have just gone home instead!

One from the window of a pendolino, not fantastic as difital zoom but look closely and you can see the forth rail bridge